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So scared I'd die like Dando
26 March 2000

TEARFUL Julie Goodyear told of her terror yesterday and said: "I could have been murdered like Jill Dando." She fears the raiders who broke into her luxury home stealing £50,000 worth of gems had been stalking her and staking out her home. Julie, now petrified of being alone for even a moment, told the Sunday People: "The thought of being watched by someone who would want to do me harm is horrific. Jill Dando immediately springs to mind. There are crazed people out there."

The former Coronation Street star was in the Jacuzzi with her toyboy lover when the crooks broke into her £500,000 farmhouse last week. She said: "They must have staked out my home for some weeks and looked through the windows. "They clearly knew the way around the house. The night they broke in is the only one when I'm almost always alone." Julie, 57, fears the raiders could have killed her if boyfriend Scott Brand, 30, had not been with her. Now the dark-haired trucker, who has dated Julie for four years, is moving in permanently to help ease the actress's torment.

The noise of the Jacuzzi prevented the couple hearing the raiders as they crow-barred their way into the house to snatch Julie's lifetime collection of jewels. When distraught Julie discovered the burglary furious Scott grabbed a baseball bat and frantically searched the house for the raiders. He shrugged off fears that they might be armed and burst into room after room - only to find the thieves had fled when they heard him coming.

Scott, who has been living with his parents, vowed yesterday: "I don't want Julie ever to spend a night on her own again. "It was sheer luck I was here when the break-in happened. Now I'll always be here." The raid last Monday came 11 months after Jill Dando was shot outside her London home.

Julie, Rovers Return landlady Bet Lynch for 25 years, is so stunned by the burglary that she is thinking of leaving her beloved four-bedroom home standing in 27 acres at Heywood, Lancs. She said: "I haven't been able to sleep since it happened, I'm so scared. We sat up all that first night and I've just tossed and turned since. "It was unusual for Scott to be with me on a Monday evening and I go over and over it in my mind. "I keep thinking what would have happened if he hadn't been here? What would have happened if I'd disturbed them? "I jump at every little noise in the house, convinced there is someone in the next room. I'm nervous the whole time. "I have a lot of security at home, but it still didn't put them off. They must have staked out the place. How else would they know where the different rooms are? There are two staircases up to my bedroom, the main one past the Jacuzzi and a back way which they used to avoid being disturbed."

Julie explained her anguish, saying: "Only someone who has been burgled themselves can know how awful it is. You feel violated. It's a total invasion of your space, your home and your sanctuary." Julie, who grew up in a two-up, two-down terrace house less than a mile away, added: "I've worked so hard to make this house everything I ever wanted. "I spent four long years converting it. It might not be to everyone's taste, but it's my home.

Julie said: "It's what I dreamed of as a child. I love it, but those people who broke in have destroyed that. It's heartbreaking, now I can't relax in my own home. "They've walked through my sitting room, up my stairs and through my bedroom and I don't know if I can live here anymore. I'm afraid to be in and afraid to go out because I think they will come back."

The burglars forced open a sitting room window, calmly moving ornaments from the ledge before climbing in. Julie discovered the burglary when she left the Jacuzzi and went to her bedroom. She was shocked to see a drawer had been removed from her dressing table and empty ring boxes left on a chair. Julie recalled: "I went into shock. I returned to the bathroom and Scott saw from my face that there was something seriously wrong. But I literally couldn't say anything. "He was screaming at me, 'What's wrong? What's happened?' Then he ran into the bedroom and saw for himself. They had also taken a pillow case off the bed - to carry some of the jewels, I imagine. I was petrified that whoever had done it was still in the house. They could have had guns or knives. "Scott picked up a baseball bat that happened to be in the room and was wildly going from room to room with me at his shoulder. "He was searching to see if they were still there. It was sheer anger on his part, but I was petrified."

The couple dialled 999 before Julie calmed down enough to assess what had gone. She said: "I was devastated. They took every last piece of jewellery, everything I had ever owned. "The things were so personal, including items from when I was a girl and things my mum and dad gave me. "There were gifts from over the years and things I had bought myself. "I wasn't born with a silver spoon in my mouth and everything I owned I worked damn hard for. They just walked in and took it. "I am insured but the money can't replace memories."

All that remains is a simple gold cross that belonged to Julie's mother. Scott found it on a path when he went to search for the burglars. Julie said: "It must have slipped out of the drawer as they carried it away. "I felt it was Mum saving it for me. She died on May 11 1987 and I'd given it to her as a present years before that. Now it's all I have left." The raiders also snatched Julie's handbag containing her purse, diary, address book and sentimental items. Police say there is little chance of finding the jewels. The thieves left little evidence - even burying the broken window's brass handle and lock in the garden to obscure any fingerprints.

Julie, who quit the Street in 1995, has had dozens of letters from fans since the break-in. But it was only when the local vicar called that Julie finally wept. She said: "He told me they would be saying prayers for me. He said, 'Julie, you have never left Heywood. You have never deserted us and we are not going to desert you'." Julie, who was back on screen as Bet last year in a six-part Street spin-off, is grateful that Scott is moving in. She said: "I would have gone to pieces if it hadn't been for Scott and my loyal PA Vicky. Scott told me, 'I'm moving in'. He said he wouldn't leave me and after all this I don't ever want him to."

JULIE Goodyear has spoken frankly for the first time about her deep love for a man 27 years her junior - and confessed her fears that he will run off with a younger woman. The Corrie legend - who fell in love at first sight with toyboy trucker Scott Brand when he delivered a load of cement to her farmhouse - told the Sunday People in an exclusive interview: "I was very nervous about the age gap. "I'd be lying if I said I don't sometimes worry that he might go off and find a younger woman."

But as the couple kissed and held hands for our exclusive pictures, it was clear that the romance has taken years off Julie's 57-year age. OUT has gone the old Bet Lynch-style beehive hairdo and heavy make-up. IN comes a new cropped modern look and much lighter make-up. Julie says: "I've got three failed marriages behind me and I'd come to the conclusion that I wasn't very good at relationships, but with Scott I've got another chance at happiness and I feel very lucky indeed."

The unlikely romance could read almost like a Coronation Street script. Scott, then 27, had been asked to deliver cement to a remote farm a few miles from his home.After unloading he was directed to a Portakabin to get the foreman to sign for the delivery, But to his amazement the 'foreman' was the former Coronation Street star, complete with hard hat and wellington boots. Julie says: "His mouth fell open and he gasped 'You're Bet off the Street!' I held out my necklace which had Julie on it, smiled at him and then said 'Can you put my clothes back on now!' "He'd been undressing me with his eyes, they were out on stalks. We both laughed and that was the point we both knew. It was that immediate, it was an instant attraction."

Scott made excuses to return to the farm the following three days and on the fourth day asked Julie out for a lunchtime drink. By the end of the afternoon they had enjoyed their first passionate kiss and 6ft 6ins Scott - who watched Julie playing Bet Lynch when he was a kid - had declared his undying love. Now four years on they are blissfully in love and Scott moved in with Julie this week.

The star said: "We're very much in love, we're happy together and it's worth sharing. We've nothing to hide and I have nothing to be ashamed of. "Before I met Scott I imagined growing old in my farmhouse on my own. Then when I met him I thought I'd fall in love, that it wouldn't last and that I'd end up getting my heart broken again. "At times I've said to him this is ridiculous. You'd be better off with a girl your own age and then you can have kids."I've regularly had cold feet and felt I should end it, for his sake as much as anything. "I've been very wary and we've taken things very slowly, but after four years I'm beginning to believe he's not going to change his mind. "I know I'm very lucky to have found him. He's down-to-earth and real and honest, as well as being very sensitive and kind. And he's got a lovely bum!"

The couple first made love a month after meeting. Julie said: "It was a nerve-racking experience going to bed with someone so much younger, but we laughed a lot and we had fun. And we still do. "I call him my Gentle Giant, he's very sexy and passionate." Scott is also incredibly shy, which might also explain why the couple have kept their love quiet for so long.

But while he is nervous about the public side of life with Julie he has no doubts about their love - despite their very different lives. While Julie was living the champagne lifestyle as one of the best-known faces on TV, Scott was enjoying a normal childhood just a few miles away in Radcliffe, Lancs, with his brother, sister and TV.

After coming home from school he sat down to watch Coronation Street every week alongside his mum, little realising what fate had in store for him.When he grew up he dated several girls - most of them his own age but a couple a few years older - before meeting Julie. Then his life changed overnight. Sitting hand-in-hand with the former soap star in the sitting room of her £500,000 farmhouse, he admitted yesterday: "I've always fancied older women. They're smarter and have more brains, so I've never had the slightest doubts about Julie. "Compared to this it feels like I've not had any other relationships. "I knew from the moment I met her what I felt for her. She's beautiful and love pours out of her eyes. "She's livelier and got more energy than anyone my age and it's me who finds it hard to keep up with her. "I've thought about the future and everything it entails and I know I will always love her. The age difference just doesn't matter. "I've been on bended knee telling Julie it's true love so many times. I know we'll make it work. "I've never wanted children. My brother and sister have kids and I enjoy being an uncle, but that's as far as I'll ever want to take it. "I'm not just saying that because I'm with Julie. I've always felt that way."

Despite being the quieter of the two, it is Scott who somehow found the courage to reach over and kiss the larger-than-life TV star in a crowded pub on their first date.Julie says: "After a couple of drinks I said to him 'I have to tell you that this relationship can only ever be platonic'. His response to that was to kiss me deeply. "When he finally stopped I said 'Could you do that again please?' To this day his excuse was that he didn't know what platonic meant!" Scott says: "I was never intimidated by Julie's age or her fame. "To me she was just Julie - Bet on the television was another person."

After four years together this has become the longest relationship that either of them has ever had - and that includes Julie's three marriages. She said: "It makes you wary, so we've taken things very slowly which has been good. "It may also be why I've never gone public in my whole life before about a relationship. "But this felt different. I feel very safe with Scott and the time felt right."

Scott is to carry on lorry driving and Julie will continue with occasional acting. Since leaving Coronation Street she has spent much of her time working on her 27-acre farm. But later this year she will be back on screen in a new comedy drama The Only Game in Town. She says: "I wasn't expecting a lorry driver half my age to walk into my life. "But now he has I'm going to make the most of it. "I've been given this chance of happiness and I'm going to do everything I can to hang on to it."

ACTRESS Julie Goodyear's lovelife has been just as colourful as her Coronation Street role as Rovers Return landlady Bet Lynch over the years. But, sadly, it has not always brought her happiness. Her THREE marriages all ended in divorce and she has also suffered the heartache of THREE broken engagements.

Marriage number one was to businessman Ray Sutcliffe in 1959 when she was just 17 years old. But he left her and their son Gary and moved to Australia.

At 22 she fell in love with solicitor Geoff Cassidy, 12 years her senior, but later called off the engagment.

Then in 1972, Julie became engaged to Blackpool comic Jack Diamond - only to call it off six weeks later.

The following year she wed company secretary Tony Rudman, but they split before the honeymoon had even begun. Crowds of fans turned up at the wedding and the shocked groom walked out during the reception.

Later Julie got engaged to Street director Bill Gilmour, but they never reached the alter.

Her third marriage was to airline executive Richard Skrob, whom she met at Fiji Airport in 1985. But they divorced after two years.

Since then Julie has fiercely guarded her private life.

Percy fighting for life
24 March 2000 Exclusive by John Mahoney

CORONATION Street veteran Bill Waddington is fighting for life and barely able to recognise his family and friends, the Daily Star can reveal. The star, who turned old soldier Percy Sugden into one of the biggest grumps on TV, is now so ill he has been forced to move out of his £300,000 farmyard house and into a private nursing home where he needs 24hour care.

Every day his devoted fourth wife Sheila makes the five-mile drive to visit her 83-year-old husband, who has been fighting a six-month battle against deadly Parkinson's Disease. Until now Sheila has never revealed the full extent of Bill's illness. On top of his struggle with Parkinson's, he has had to cope with a recent stomach cancer scare, which turned out to be treatable.

Yesterday Sheila played down fears that he has also just suffered a massive heart attack. But she revealed that his big wish to make one more appearance in Corrie as Percy is now out of the question because his health is so poor.

Speaking at their home in a village near Rotherham, South Yorks, Sheila, 64, said: "He's very ill - everybody knows how bad this illness can be. "Bill's memory comes and goes, but he still recognises me, thankfully. I visit him every day so he sees me all the time. "He's got Parkinson's Disease - that's why he went into the home so he could be properly looked after. "It is not far from here, and he's as well as can be expected. But I've been told not to tell anyone exactly where he is."

Bill was last seen on TV last autumn when he was in ads for Little Chef. He hasn't been in Corrie for two years since Percy left Weatherfield to move into a sheltered home. Patriotic Percy spent most of his time slapping down romantic advances from Phyllis Pearce before his engagement to wheelchair-bound Maud Grimes.

Corrie John to be new Len
23 March 2000 by Matt John

CORRIE chiefs want to turn Weatherfield newcomer John Bowe into the new Len Fairclough. They see the craggy actionman, who shot to fame in the Prime Suspect crime dramas, as a future soap superstar and have promised some scorching storylines for his character, Duggie Ferguson. Bosses also plan to team the former Rugby League hardcase with Street rogue Steve McDonald, played by Simon Gregson, in an updated version of the legendary partnership between Len and borstal boy Ray Langton.

Last night, a Coronation Street insider revealed: "John is very highly regarded, and so is his character, Duggie. "The show hasn't really had someone like him since those heady Len Fairclough days - and the two of them share many characteristics. Like Len, Duggie is as hard as nails. He has had his share of tragedies, too. "He is going to be a steadying influence on Weatherfield's bad-boy, mainly because Steve is terrified of what might happen if he steps out of line. "The word is that John can stay in the show as long as he wants. "Producers want to turn Duggie into a real core character in the months, and hopefully the years, to come. "He's going to fill a big gap, because long-termers such as Ken Barlow and Mike Baldwin are edging towards OAP status. "The Street needs a middle-aged heart-throb who can get involved in all kinds of challenging storylines - from romances to physical confrontations."

At present, crop-haired John is dividing his time between Cornwall, where his wife Emma lives with their three young children, and Manchester where filming takes place. He is hoping to persuade his family to move north, to end their weekday separations.

Duggie's first big test will come as devastated Rovers landlady Natalie Barnes struggles to cope following the murder of her druggie son, Tony Horrocks. Nat - played by Denise Welch - will turn to booze in a big way to drown her sorrows, ignoring all attempts to wean her off it by lover Vinny Sorrell and other pals. That's the cue for Duggie, who lost his wife from cancer, to race to the rescue. The source added: "Viewers will soon realise that he is going to become the strong man of Coronation Street."

Nat's night of shame
21 March 2000 by Adam Kennet

NAUGHTY Natalie Barnes' reputation is about to hit rock bottom when her seediest bedroom secret yet is revealed. Brother-in-law Colin is number one suspect for the murder of her drug-dealing son Tony Horrocks.

But widow Nat - Denise Welch - claims he couldn't possibly be the killer . . . because he was in bed with her at the time, just after husband Des's funeral. And things get even hotter when Colin, played by Ian Embleton, turns up again. Officially, he comes to console Nat, but it's soon obvious he wants a replay of his steamy one-night stand with the man-eating Rovers landlady.

Last night an insider said: "This is, without doubt, the lowest point in Natalie's life. "She's beside herself with grief for Des and her son Tony, but she's also wracked with guilt over what she did with Colin. "And when the secret gets out her relationship with Vinny (James Gaddas) is in tatters, so she hits the bottle. "Vinny's no prude, but what Natalie's done disgusts him."

Clinic's put me write
20 March 2000 by John Mahoney

BATTLING Coronation Street star Bruce Jones is writing a book about his harrowing time at a top booze clinic. The troubled actor, who plays lout Les Battersby in the ITV soap, kept notes of his experiences and the tales he heard within the walls of the £2,500a-week rehabilitation unit. And the 45-year-old jokingly told fellow patients that he's using One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest as his working title, in honour of the Jack Nicholson movie set in a mental hospital.

Bruce responded so well to treatment during his three-week stint at The Priory in Altrincham, Cheshire, that he returned home to wife Sandra at the weekend. And today he will be back on the Corrie set. A TV insider said: "Bruce was adamant that he wanted to return straight to work. "Although the hectic schedules are mainly to blame for his problems, he missed the other members of the cast. "He's glad to be coming back."

A friend of the £85,000-a-year actor said: "Bruce believes there is a book in his experiences at The Priory and has already started jotting down ideas. "He wants to combine a mix of witty anecdotes with the more serious side of undergoing this form of counselling. "Bruce is looking loads better - and he believes he'll come out of this a far better man."

Stressed-out actor back in the Street
20 March 2000

Coronation Street actor Bruce Jones is back at work after a spell in a clinic for treatment for stress. Jones, who plays loud-mouth Les Battersby, is continuing counselling at the specialist centre, The Priory - where fellow soap star, Kevin Kennedy, alias Curly Watts, also overcame similar problems. The actor thanked his fans who had sent him thousands of get well cards.

Bev quits Britain
19 March 2000

BEHIND tall iron gates, a white-walled and red-roofed villa nestles among the citrus trees and palms. Not a bad place to make a new start, Bev Callard has to agree. There's no stress, no pressure, none of the hassle which in the past, she says, has caused such trauma in her private life. When the Mediterranean sun rises here each morning, her biggest decision is whether to take breakfast on the terrace or over there by the side of the swimming pool.

"Now this is what I call bliss," Bev says, a glass of sangria in hand. "And that sort of compliment doesn't come easily from a lass from Leeds, let me tell you." It is four months since Bev, 41, husband Steve, 34, and their 10-year-old son Josh packed all their worldly goods into a lorry and a van and set off for Spain's Costa Del Sol. They didn't tell anyone they were leaving except their immediate neighbours in Bolton, where they lived, and their closest friends.

For almost a decade Bev had played the role of desperate wife and manhunter Liz McDonald in Coronation Street. Liz, you might think, would be just the type to be drawn to the pink neon lights of nearby Marbella. Bev, however, has come in search of tranquillity. She wanted to spend time with Josh, and wanted a complete change from the high-pressure lifestyle which had put a strain on her relationship with Steve.

"I'm an Aries, and that means I'm a perfectionist in most things, and so I'm not easy to please, I know that," she says. "But this is no exaggeration - I'm happier now than I have ever been at any time in my life. This is a new start for us. Some people might think it's a crazy thing to do, to uproot from a comfortable home in England and come out here. But for several reasons, we all knew that it was right for us.

"We have had our difficulties, Steve and I. That much is no secret. But what couple have not after they have been married for 10 or 12 years? "The difference is that, inevitably, our problems have been partly played out in public view. There were headlines about splits and rows and bust-ups. The reality, as any couple will know, is quite different. We weren't throwing the crockery at one another. There were no furious rows or angry slanging matches. "In fact, quite the opposite - there was too much silence between us. We were losing the art of communicating with one another.

"We were both doing very demanding, highly-pressured jobs. "I was involved in major storylines in the street, and for 33 weeks non-stop I was working six days a week, for 12 hours a day if we were in the studio or 18 hours a day out on location. "At the same time, I had completed a series of three keep-fit videos, which were a project close to my heart, but there were appearances and promotion work connected with them. "I had gone back to work, literally, within days of Josh being born. In fact, I used to be bottle-feeding him in the Coronation Street dressing room. How crazy can you get?

"As for Steve, he had taken over as my personal manager. That meant telephones ringing every two minutes, drawing up a daily itinerary of engagements, and making sure I kept them to the second. "The result was that by the end of a typical day, we were both knackered. We just wanted to slump. Sometimes it was too much effort to be in the same room, even. "We were trying to juggle all these balls in the air at the same time - careers, parenthood, business - and when it was proving too hard we were blaming one another. "When Steve said he thought it was better if we spent some time apart, I had to agree, so it was kind of a mutual decision. But do you know how long our so called bust-up lasted? A total of eight days. And for a lot of that time we were together anyway. "Steve would come back to the house to baby-sit Josh while I was working, or if I was on the night-shift he would actually stay over.

"In the end, we had gone to ASDA to do the weekly shopping just as we always did, and we were driving back and we both realised, 'We can't live apart, so let's give it another try'. "I've been married twice before, so in a way I suppose that makes you more determined to protect and preserve the good things that you have in a partnership.

"Now we've made this fresh start. People who have been through some difficulties themselves will know what I mean when I say that we've tried to arrange our lives into sections. What has happened, that was the past. Now we have this wonderful present, and we're looking forward to an even better future."

Bev may have dyed her hair back from serious brunette to sunny blonde and have moved to the Costa Del Sol but she has certainly not retired. She is starring in a second series of the comedy The Peter Principle, which is rapidly gathering a devoted audience on late-night BBC1, and there is the possibility of a third. She is also in talks about a new drama series.

The phone hasn't stopped ringing, but out here it can be handled at a more civilised pace. It was for Josh's sake as well as their own that Bev and Steve decided to make the move. He has special educational needs, and in Marbella there are no fewer than three schools that can help. "Josh is amazing," Bev says. "He's dyslexic but he has an exceptionally high IQ.

"Back home, we had to send him away to boarding school, and I absolutely hated doing that. "I missed Nativity plays, speech days, parents' evenings, all those kind of things which you should be able to enjoy as your child grows up. On the school sports days, guess who was the only one missing in the Mum's Race? "Josh took it all very well. Of course, he had grown up with my Street career, so he thought it was quite normal. It was me who knew that it wasn't right. I wasn't giving my son what he needed most...my attention. One day he popped his head round the door and said, 'Mum, I'm really sorry to disturb you, because I know you're stressed out and you've got lines to learn'.

"In fact, I was on holiday. I wasn't doing anything in particular, and it wasn't anything vital that he wanted, just some of my time. But in that moment, I realised, 'This is how my child sees me, as someone rather distant who has to be approached with caution'. "I knew then that things had to change. When the annual memo came round, asking if I would stay with the Street for another year, I told them that I had made my mind up to leave. "They were stunned. Liz was the best dramatic role in any soap. In fact, if I had any complaint it was that she was too intense, and she shed too many tears.

"For the episode when Jim McDonald beat up Liz, we had 24 million viewers, and where else could an actor expect that kind of audience? But my heart told me it was time to go." In the same way, when she first saw the five-bedroom, five-bathroom villa, Bev knew that it was time again to make another bold change in her life. She and Steve had booked the place at the last minute for a holiday with friends. It had been standing empty for years. "We stepped through the door and opened the shutters, and when the light came in it was as if the house was waking up," Bev recalls. "I had the strangest feeling, that this was where I belonged. "During that holiday something else happened which was really, really weird. For a year or more friends had mentioned to me this book they had read, called The Celestine Prophecy, and they would insist, 'Bev, you just have to read it, because it has these incredible insights into life which would really help you'.

"We were at the end of our first week there, and I was growing more and more in love with this place. I'd finished the novel I'd brought with me so I went looking for something else to read. I found this old trunk with a couple of dozen books inside, and all of them were German except for one printed in English - believe it or not, The Celestine Prophecy. Because I'm absolutely terrified of creepy crawlies, I spent a good 10 minutes flicking through the pages to make sure nothing was hiding in there. I finished a couple of chapters the first day. The next day we were all around the pool and I opened the book and there in the pages, which had been empty the day before, was a wad of money - Belgian notes, worth about £100. That same day, Steve got a reply to the inquiries we had been making about the villa. It might be available for sale, the agents told us, because it had actually been repossessed some time ago - by a bank in Belgium. "Now I'm not a believer in spiritualism, or mysticism, or anything like that, but it's hard not to believe that we were being steered in the direction of this house." Bev and Steve bought the villa for a fraction of the asking price, and moved in a month later.

In the last couple of months, they have begun transforming their new home. Bev has turned the main bedroom into a kaleidscope of pastels, and spent three weeks producing a mural in the stairwell. Along the landing is Bev's "retreat" - a room which houses her own wall-length wardrobe and her collection of 250 pairs of shoes.

The Street, far away though it might be, is not completely left behind. One corner of the downstairs office is filled with Liz memorabilia. A scarlet stiletto shoe, set on a stone plaque, was a leaving present from the cast. And hanging in a frame is a tiny scrap of an item which will be forever linked to Liz - a black Lycra mini-skirt. Around it is an inscription, a quote from an exchange between Liz and her old mate Bet Gilroy...Liz: "Do you think I dress like a tart?" Bet: "No! Some days we can hardly see yer knickers." It's a reminder, Bev says, of the fun times she had, amid the relentlessly tough work.

"To tell the truth, we don't watch much TV any more," she says. "I haven't seen the The Peter Principle yet, and I've completely lost track of the Street."

Soon, the Costa will be swarming with British holidaymakers, and Bev will be an instantly recognisable face to most of them. Even today, out of season, when we sit down for lunch at the Jamaica Inn, her favourite restaurant on a secluded beach, curious glances follow her. "The house is pretty well hidden, so we don't expect people to be climbing the walls, and we have already checked out the places we can go where the tourists will never find," Bev says.

"Anyone has to have times when they are just allowed to be themselves. But in the main, I don't mind being a celebrity one bit. It's one part of the job. I enjoyed my years as Liz, I was so proud to be a part of the Street." Would she like to come back as Liz one day? "Yes. Not right now, but sometime in the future. Perhaps Liz will walk back through that door. "I've learned never to say never, in this business."

Street change
17 March 2000

Twelve-year-old Jack P Shepherd is to take over the role of David Platt in Coronation Street, it was announced today. Shepherd will take on the role from by nine-year-old   Thomas Ormson who has played the part since he was two weeks old. Shepherd will be reunited in the soap with Tina O'Brien, who plays Sarah-Louise Platt, they appeared together as brother and sister in the BBC1 series Clocking Off.

Sally in for life
16 March 2000

SALLY WHITAKER yesterday pledged the rest of her career to Corrie. The mum of two, who plays Street divorcee Sally Webster, said she had no ambition to leave Weatherfield.

Vivacious blonde Sally, married in real life to a scriptwriter from rival Emmerdale, said: "Awful as it might sound, even after 14 years I don't have any ambitions to do anything else now."

Street fighter
16 March 2000 by John Mahoney

ROVERS landlady Natalie Barnes had a bit of a soap box yesterday - with new British heavyweight champ Mike Holden. Mighty Mike, 32, was given a knockout welcome on his return to Coronation Street, where he's worked as an extra for five years.

Corrie fans may have glimpsed him driving cars along TV's most famous cobblestones and throwing darts in the pub. But he was right in the foreground as he showed off the belt he won this week for defeating Julius Francis on points in London.

Mike was welcomed by Denise Welch, who plays Natalie, and James Gaddas, her telly boyfriend Vinny Sorrell. "We're all very proud of him," said Denise. "We were rooting for him." Mike hopes his boxing commitments won't stop him from carrying on his fleeting appearances in Britain's best-loved show. "I've always been a fan of the Street and it was a great thrill when I landed some work here," he said. "I'd love to keep it going."

Heavyweight champ takes time out for the Street
15 March 2000

Newly crowned British Heavyweight Champion Mike Holden has taken time out from training to appear on Coronation Street. Holden, who won the title on Monday after beating Julius Francis, makes ends meet by working as a stunt driver for the soap. The 32-year-old boxer, from Tameside, Greater Manchester, works for Action Cars, which supplies vehicles for the set.

Bruce beats booze
15 March 2000

CORONATION STREET star Bruce Jones has won his booze battle. Doctors at the rehab clinic where he is drying out have told him: "You're ready to go home." Bruce, 45, who plays loutish Les Battersby, plans to return to work within a week of leaving the Priory clinic in Altrincham, Cheshire. He could be home at the weekend.

A Corrie insider said yesterday: "Bruce wants to get a few episodes in the can before he takes a few weeks out with his wife Sandra."

The actor hit the bottle as pressures of work built up. A colleague said: "It came as a shock to him when he went into the clinic. "It's a regime nobody can be used to, and he has done brilliantly."

Baby joy for Street star Martin
14 March 2000

Coronation Street star Sean Wilson, who plays nurse Martin Platt in the soap, is celebrating becoming a father for the second time. His wife Gaynor gave birth to a 7lb 10oz daughter Maisie at the couple's home in Manchester late on Monday night. They already have a two-year-old son Callum.

The proud father said: 'We are really happy and Gaynor's well. She is tired but elated.' The actor's character is in the middle of a hard-hitting storyline in the show as he and screen wife Gail agonise over how to handle her 13-year-old daughter Sarah-Louise's pregnancy.

Sarah's secret suffering
12 March 2000 by TV Plus reporters

Ex-Coronation Street star Sarah Lancashire says she suffered a nervous breakdown at the height of her fame on the ITV soap. Sarah, 35, who was barmaid Raquel for five years kept her 14-month illness secret from all but her close family. She said: "The breakdown was a time bomb waiting to go off. It was absolutely debilitating. Every day I was hysterical at the thought of getting out of bed, but I made myself do it. I didn't tell anyone or take any time off work."

The star said she found it difficult to play '70s actress Coral Atkins having a nervous breakdown in her new ITV drama Seeing Red: "The scenes were difficult, I identified with her enormously." She said she took medication at the time and now has the condition under control. But she told the TV Times: "I was terrified of being judged and misunderstood so I battled on."

Street spoils EastEnders 15th birthday
9 March 2000

Coronation Street spoiled EastEnders' 15th birthday celebrations by winning the ratings battle. The northern soap attracted 17 million viewers on the birthday night in February, compared to 12.9 million who watched EastEnders. Corrie fans were treated to a sizzling storyline with a teenage pregnancy and Martin Platt admitting he wants to leave his wife for his mistress.

The 17 million figure was for the show Sunday February 20. Coronation Street producer Jane Macnaught said: "This is great news. "It's satisfying to know that so many viewers are riveted to the show. "This week's episodes are building to the Sarah-Louise teenage pregnancy storyline, which is a sensitive subject and one that's clearly intriguing viewers."

An EastEnders spokeswoman said: "We are delighted with the performance of EastEnders. We do not rely on individual episode audience ratings as an indication of the quality."

Les made me lose it
9 March 2000 Exclusive by John Mahoney

TROUBLED Corrie star Bruce Jones blames his layabout character Les Battersby for making him crack up. As he struggles to put his life back on the rails in a £2,500-a-week addiction clinic, he revealed how sudden fame had tipped him over the edge. And he confessed it is the ghost of TV's most work-shy rogue that made him turn to drink to find a desperate escape from stress.

It seemed like a dream come true when 45-year-old Bruce - a former dairy boilerman and part-time fireman - hit the big time with a starring role in the top soap two-and-a-half years ago. He quickly made dodgy dealer Les one of Weatherfield's soap's favourite characters. But now he's opened his heart to a fellow patient, revealing how the fairytale soon became a personal hell.

Joiner Gary Seward said last night how £85,000-a-year Bruce was haunted by loud-mouthed Les - with quiet nights in the pub ruined and total strangers giving him huge whacks on the back. Dad-to-be Gary, 23, was being treated for booze addiction at the Priory Clinic in Altrincham, Cheshire, where Bruce is staying. He revealed: "Bruce told me stories about how he was always being dragged over in bars to speak to people who wanted to meet Les Battersby, and how it was doing his head in. "He was in the toilets once and someone cracked him on the back. He fell forward and nearly broke his nose on the wall. "And this was all because he was recognised wherever he went as Les Battersby - a goofy bloke you just have to stop and have a laugh with."

But Gary said that in one of his better moods dad-of-four Bruce became just as cheeky a rascal as Les by telling new patients and visitors: "Welcome to the loony bin!" And one night while others were trying to sleep he opened his window and began howling like a wolf . . . telling stunned patients at breakfast next morning that he blamed his "happy pills" for keeping them awake. Bruce described his stint at the Priory as "just like One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest", the Oscar-winning Jack Nicholson movie about a psychiatric hospital.

While Gary spoke about the actor's daily life in the top people's clinic, Bruce's agent also admitted it was the pressures of playing Les that were responsible for him seeking help. Bruce checked in on February 25 and spent two days becoming pals with Gary, who was nearing the end of his rehab. Now back at home in Duckinfield, Gtr Manchester, Gary told how word spread rapidly that telly's Les Battersby was arriving later that day.

Bruce - who is being supported in his brave fight by wife Sandra, 41 - later joined Gary on an addiction and stress course. "He told them he was drinking because of the stress. But they are not treating him for the stress, it is the addiction part," said Gary. "I wondered what on Earth you say to someone who is famous and on TV - but actually he was down-to-earth and a very nice bloke. "In the evenings he would stay in his bedroom strumming his guitar and having a smoke. He even taught one lad the basic guitar chords to help him learn the instrument."

Bruce is on indefinite compassionate leave from Corrie, and could be in the Priory for up to four more weeks. Gary added: "He struck me as a really nice bloke, and I hope he sorts his problems out. "There is aftercare, which means he will be expected to go back every Monday night for 12 months once he finishes here."

Bruce's agent Patrick Nyland said last night: "Like many people Bruce enjoys a drink and sometimes he has used it to help him cope with the pressures on him. "His treatment is all about being able to come to terms with sitting in a restaurant and constantly being approached by members of the public. "It is an all-round approach to teach stars who are finding the price of fame too much. Bruce is learning how to live with being a well-known face. "Basically he was finding it hard being recognised in the street - it's difficult being thrown into the limelight which has only really hit him in later years. He's having counselling sessions and there are also anger management classes. "Bruce is being educated how to manage his life now that he's a personality. He has just taken some time out to chill and get back on track. "He had no free time and has been running here, there and everywhere. He wasn't eating properly and he was starting to look gaunt. He was on a treadmill - filming Coronation Street, doing personal appearances and trying to keep up his charity work. "It got to the stage where if Bruce didn't check himself into the clinic he was going to be seriously ill."

His time in rehab means that Bruce has had to miss his SON'S stage debut in the musical Half a Sixpence at Romily Forum near Stockport. But he said of Jon, 26: "I am very proud of him following in my footsteps. He's been to drama school but he's a tiler by trade."

Corrie Spice !
8 March 2000 by John Mahoney

MEET Bobbi Lewis, the Scary Spice lookalike who's been brought in to give Coronation Street ratings a massive boost. Bobbi is about to spice up life down at Mike Baldwin's undies factory. And no wonder jealous Linda Sykes gets her knickers in a twist when Bobbi slips into her work overalls and clocks on for her first day's work in Undieworld. For she's convinced Bobbi, played by newcomer Naomi Russell, is about to stitch her up by running off with her exfella!

Viewers will see Mike Baldwin's son Mark - Paul Fox - take her on as a machinist before she starts weaving her sultry charm in a bid to get him between the sheets.

Corrie chiefs unveiled their hot new sex-bomb yesterday as the ratings war with arch-rivals EastEnders exploded again as the Beeb soap overtook them by pulling in 18.56m viewers last week - a MILLION more than the Street. But Granada bosses believe 22-year-old Bournemouth-born Naomi will add so much Spice to the soap it will be Scary!

Scriptwriters have been told to provide a string of conquests for lad-mad Bobbi, and Mark's could be the first name on her bedpost. An insider said: "She's going to cause real trouble. She's a girl who likes a party and likes the blokes. And Linda hates her from the word go. "Naomi is a smashing girl and she'll do really well here. She really looks like Mel B."

Last night overjoyed Naomi gushed: "My family are all thrilled. We've been massive fans of the show since we can remember. "Some great female characters have worked in Mike Baldwin's factories, so it's a real honour to get this part. "I hope people will like Bobbi - she's a fun-loving girl who likes clubbing, shopping, sport and men."

Sex bomb arrives in the Street
7 March 2000 by TV Plus reporters

New Corrie star Naomi Russell is poised to set the hearts of Weatherfield's men racing when she joins the cast as machinist Bobbi Lewis, on March 20. It's the TV drama debut of Naomi, 22, who causes men's heads to turn when, she arrives to work in Mike Baldwin's underwear factory.

Dark-haired Naomi, 22, said: "I'm really excited about the role. I've watched Corrie since I was a little girl - so my family are thrilled." Her arrival will make Corrie's Linda Sykes (Jacqueline Pirie) green with envy. A Corrie spokesman said: "She gets jealous, even though she's got a new career in sales."

Bournemouth-born ex-model Naomi, who hosted ITV's regional series The Millionaires' Show, said: "I hope fans will like Bobbi. She's a fun-loving girl who's into clubbing, shopping, sport and men."

Les Battered me
3 March 2000 Exclusive by John Mahoney

TROUBLED Coronation Street star Bruce Jones has checked into a rehab clinic after a pub bust-up with his best drinking pal. Bruce, who plays layabout Les Battersby, head of the Street family from hell, had to be separated from Mike Herd in a booze-fuelled row.

Last night Mike, 45, said: "No wonder he decided it was time to get proper help and therapy. What happened was ridiculous. But perhaps I am as much to blame as him because it takes two to tango. "I'm sorry for my part, but if it has led to Bruce seeking proper help to control his temper and mood swings, it is definitely for the best."

Father-of-four Bruce is on indefinite compassionate leave from Corrie after checking himself into The Priory booze and stress clinic in Altrincham, Cheshire. He told Granada TV bosses he urgently needed counselling to cope with the pressures of work which have driven him to drink heavily.

Printer Mike, who has known Bruce since 1982, told yesterday how they came to blows in their local, The Railway Hotel in Marple, Cheshire, where Bruce had been knocking back pints of bitter since early doors. "I walked in and went over to a friend standing at the bar. Bruce was sitting on a stool at the bar and as I walked past him I felt this almighty whack on my back. "Then he put his thumb up in the air and said, 'Are you all right, Mike?' I could tell he had had a drink. He pushed me again on my shoulder. "I am 5ft 3in and he's a good six foot. He nearly knocked me off my feet."

The actor then ridiculed Mike. "Bruce was wearing his flying jacket with fur on the collar and said to me, 'I see you've got your green plastic jacket on again'," said Mike. "He was belittling me in one of his arrogant, lippy modes and it got to me. I was at boiling point. "He was laughing all over his face. Then he went to the toilet. When he came back he had another go at me. He wouldn't shut it. "I admit I lost my rag and pushed him off his stool because I was really pissed off. He went flying on the floor. "He got up and was red in the face. He squared up to me, lowered his head right into mine and said he was going to kill me. "He lunged at me but by this time everyone was around us and they pulled us apart. They separated us. "The landlady asked me to leave. Bruce was taken into the kitchen to calm down."

Mike and his wife Anita and Bruce and his wife Sandra were all close friends. They have enjoyed a holiday together and nights out. "He definitely needs treatment," added Mike. "He behaved like a madman."

Granada TV will pick up the £3,500-a-week treatment bill for the £85,000-a-year actor.

Stage fright haunts Sarah Lancashire
2 March 2000 By Jonathan Donald

Harrowing memories of stage fright returned to haunt former Coronation Street star Sarah Lancashire while she was filming her latest role. Sarah plays actress Coral Atkins in a new ITV drama, Seeing Red. Coral, who starred in TV series Families at War, ran a home for disturbed children. One scene sees Lancashire depict how Coral suffered a nervous breakdown while playing Titania in A Midsummer Night's Dream. "I could really identify with Coral," said Sarah, 36.

Sarah says her own stage fright almost wrecked her early career. While filming Seeing Red she had a flashback to 11 years ago when she starred in the musical Little Shop of Horrors. "I got massive vertigo and had to hold on to everything while I was on stage. It's not good," said Sarah. "It's the audience that seems to be the problem."

Sarah has vowed never to return to Corrie - but would hate to see her character Raquel killed off. She was last seen in the soap at Christmas when Raquel told Curly Watts how she was building a new life in France with his baby. "That is it for me, somebody had to draw a line underneath it," said the actress. "Raquel was such a flighty character she would not fit in any more. But I would hate to hear Raquel had died under a bus."

Soaps slammed for girl pregnancies
1 March 2000 by Derek Robbins

The teenage pregnancy storylines in Coronation Street and EastEnders have been slammed by a TV viewers' watchdog. Miranda Suit of the National Viewers And Listeners Association accused the soaps of "turning teenage pregnancy into entertainment".

She added: "They're making it seem as if teenage pregnancies are normal. Girls see them and they don't worry about the consequences of casual sex and having a baby so young. The shows should be preaching self-control." She also attacked a Government minister for praising Corrie's teenage pregnancy storyline.

Health minister Yvette Cooper said the soap had "courage" showing the story in which Sarah-Louise Platt, 13, is five months' pregnant.

Miranda Suit said: "The minister is saying we can't avoid teenage pregancies, but I think we can prevent a lot of them. I don't want teenage mums ostracised but TV makes sex at an early age seem normal."

EastEnders is to run a teenage pregnancy storyline involving a girl of 15. Sonia Jackson will lose her virginity in a one-night stand with Martin Fowler. The soap will feature her worries about whether she's pregnant in the coming months. The new plot comes after Corrie's storyline about Sarah-Louise. Viewers will discover the identity of the father in a gripping episode on Monday March 6.

Miranda Suit also hit out at Hollyoaks' male rape storyline, adding: "It's giving the idea that sex and violence go together and it's normalising this type of behaviour when it clearly is not normal. It's all so negative."

Nat's Street shocker
1 March 2000 Exclusive by John Mahoney

ROVERS landlady Natalie Barnes is set for more heartbreak as murder stalks her loved ones for the second time. Human remains found in the rubble of the Victoria Street redevelopment turn out to be the battered body of her drugpeddling son Tony Horrocks. It emerges he was the target of a revenge assassination for pointing the finger at the mob who killed Coronation Street's bed-hopping bookie Des Barnes soon after he tied the knot with landlady Nat. And to add to the grief for Natalie, played by Denise Welch, it is her lover Vinny Sorrell who falls through the floorboards and finds Tony's body.

Daily Star sleuths have unravelled the big Corrie murder mystery of the year . . . and it leaves devastated Natalie's face stained with tears when a knock at the door tells her Tony - actor Lee Warburton - has met his end. He had fled Weatherfield in fear of his life after rumbling how his drug-dealing pals had killed Des by mistake. Viewers are about to see how Tony paid the ultimate price for shopping them in court and seeing them jailed.

Soap fans are being strung along with a red herring as Ken Barlow researches a string of Victorian murders for a book he's writing on the area. His conclusions lead Street locals to believe that the corpse may be a victim of barmy butcher Fred Elliott's great-grandfather, who much to the meat man's potty pride was a notorious gangland killer. But it's all the wrong line of inquiry . . . and when Natalie finds it's Tony who's been rubbed out, she is tortured with grief.

"All the memories of Des come flashing back and it's touch and go whether the agony of it all proves all too much," revealed a Street insider. "It's a bit like Cluedo - there's a body, it's a guessing game who it could be, and the killer is out there at large somewhere. "It is quite simply the end of the world for Natalie. First her husband Des is murdered, now her son Tony. You can't throw much more than that at a woman, that's for sure."

ARTS guru Melvyn Bragg is to host a South Bank Show tribute to Coronation Street, to mark the show's 40th birthday and celebrate its vast influence on British TV. Last night a Corrie insider said: "It is almost like getting 'This Is Your Life.' treatment. It just shows what an institution the programme has become."

I'm so sad I didn't get the chance to tackle real issues of racism
1 March 2000 by Jane Ridley

REBECCA Sarker made television history when she stepped onto the famous cobbles of Coronation Street for the very first time. The daughter of the only Asian family to settle in the Street, she seemed assured of a high-profile career for years to come. But now, just 14 months later, 24-year-old Rebecca is packing her bags and leaving Weatherfield behind. The striking actress is quitting the show when her contract expires in April after bosses decided to rest her character Nita Desai.

Although the spilt has been more than amicable and the door left open for her return, aspects of it sadden Rebecca. She feels that storylines never dealt with the real issues affecting Asian families in Britain today. She says: "It's a missed opportunity not even to try to tackle some of the big issues such as racism, the arranged marriage thing or not getting on at work because of your colour. "Scripts don't have to get embroiled in them but they can touch on themes and find a solution without getting bogged down. 'There are some aspects of the Asian cultural identity which, no matter how much you try, you can't overlook. If I'd have been staying, I'd have liked to have seen this developed. "For instance, arranged marriage is a fact of life. I've got friends who went to university, landed a fantastic job and then the family says: I'd like you to meet so-and-so and settle down.' It's a familiar problem for Asian girls. "Nita wouldn't accept an arranged marriage She'd stand her ground and refuse. But at least it would have been tackled and then rebuffed. "If Coronation Street or any other soap wants to be an accurate reflection of life, there's a fair chance that an issue like this will crop up. "The scriptwriters would have to tackle it almost despite themselves. If you have a forum, you should use it not ignore it and miss the boat."

Despite these reservations, Rebecca insists that the Desais were never a token Asian family - even though Coronation Street and EastEnders were criticised last year by the Broadcasting Standards Commission for perpetuating racial stereotypes

She says: "I wouldn't have taken the part in those circumstances and I couldn't have wished for a more positive, upbeat character than Nita." She also recognises that as far as the Desais are concerned, the scriptwriters would have had difficulty introducing grittier, racial storylines. "By making the family so liberal, they've lost a bit of their cultural identity. If they did an about turn and tackled racial issues, it would jar. "It would seem implausible because there has never been a super-strict matriarch or patriarch in the family. "Perhaps, if they introduce an Asian character In future, they will tackle these things. It would be interesting if an older, more traditional personality was written in so there's a bit of friction with those who are more liberal-minded. But I wouldn't want to be in the script editor's shoes. It's a difficult line to tread." Last night a spokesman for makers Granada said: "Coronation Street doesn't tackle issues and has always been character-driven."

Rebecca says she had "an open and honest discussion" with producer Jane Macnaught who told her she felt Nita's character needed refreshing and that meant time out of the show. "I knew in my heart of hearts she was right," says the actress. "I'd been feeling the same way. Although I love Nita's feistiness and attitude, she seemed to have lost direction. "She is an entrepreneurial Asian woman who is intelligent,. appealing and very ambitious. In a way, she has out-grown the environment. Weatherfield is a very small pond and, to be true to Nita's personality, she has to move on. "But at least this gives me time to concentrate on my careeer and explore other avenues. It wasn't like: Oh; no, what on earth am I going to do now?' "It was more: Okay, maybe it's time to take up other opportunities.' You have to be positive. And anyway, the door will stay open."

Rebecca is aware that many Asian girls look on the sophisticated character of Nita as a role model. But she is the second Asian character to leave Coronation Street within the last seven months. Saeed Jaffrey, who played Nita's father, Ravi, was sacked last August. "I certainly don't feel as If I'm letting anyone down," she says. 'I never set out to be a figurehead and I've fought against being a token Asian. I'd feel guilty if I'd said: 'I've had enough -thanks and 'bye.' "But it's not like that. If Nita had been left In the Street just mingling, doing bits and bobs, they'd have been doing her a disservice. She had to progress,"

Rebecca will shoot her final scenes in April and her departure will be shown on television around the end of May. "I'll be sad to go because it's such a happy, friendly place to work," she says. "It's been an incredible privilege to be part of Coronation Street. It's like being part of history. "I love all the positive comments when I'm out and about. Okay, the staring can be a bit frustrating sometimes but I'll miss the glamour and the hustle and bustle."

Without her regular pay cheque from the Street, Rebecca knows things may get tough. "I feel daunted about going back to auditions and all that sort of thing, but not as much as I would have done if I hadn't had the chance of being in Corrie "The experience has been absolutely invaluable. It's also gone some way in giving me more of a sense of security. "Not just financially, but in myself. I thought: 'I can do this. Maybe it is meant to be that I'm going to progress as an actor.' "When you start off, you really don't know because the competition is going to be too fierce."

Rebecca, the daughter of a Bangladeshi doctor and an English nurse from Halifax, is philosophical about the route her career may take. "What will be, will be. I wouldn't rule out film, live theatre, dance, more television, anything. "But I definitely wouldn't want to appear in another soap straight away. There'd have to be a break. "Besides, it would be very confusing and I'd start calling people Grant, Curly or something! "You can't really focus on one thing or you may cut off something like the National Theatre or a film offer. You have to be completely open to different things. All the options are equally valid. If the script is right and they think I'm right, well okay."

Hard-working Rebecca would be forgiven for wanting to take a few months off before she starts looking for a new role. After all, you'd have thought she'd like to spend more quality time with her boyfriend. She met him 19 months ago when he bought a lampshade from Liberty's, where she worked as a sales assistant before landing her role in Corne. Reluctant to talk about her partner, Rebecca will say only that he is half-English, half-Maltese and is not in the acting profession. She even dismisses the idea of their taking a foreign holiday so she can recharge her batteries. "Going away or lying low would be the worst thing I could do," she says. "I need to make the best use of the publicity from the Street. "Producers and directors need to know I'm available for work."

Though the future is a little uncertain at present, there's always the possibilty of Nita's return to the show although as Rebecca points out, such a capable character would obviously need to have moved on personally and professionally. "Maybe she'll come back in a few years time as a visiting Prime Minister, looking like Alexis Carrington in Dynasty with shoulder pads and big hair!"

Corrie's Fred has murderer in the family
1 March 2000 by Derek Robbins

Corrie butcher Fred Elliott's grandad is to be exposed as a double killer. The revelation comes on Sunday when Ken, busy writing a history of Weatherfield, discovers that Elijah Elliott was convicted of killing his wife and her lover in the early 1900s. John Savident, who plays Fred, said: "Fred is seriously worried about the effect the rumours will have on his business. He thinks people might not buy meat from a murderer's family."

Fred's nightmare will get worse when builders discover human remains in a cellar. People believe the corpse could be the body of one of Elijah's victims. John said: "Fred says Elijah was the victim of a miscarriage of justice. He's usually thick-skinned but he's lonely. He feels that more than ever with this happening."

Pop dud for Corrie stud
27 February 2000

FORMER Coronation Street heart-throb Adam Rickitt has been forced to return to acting after his pop career flopped. The star is fed-up because he has failed to repeat the success of his first hit single. Adam, 21 - TV's Nicky Tilsley for two years - has told pals he now hopes to break into Hollywood. Following the failure of his last two singles he also plans to quit his bachelor pad off London's trendy King's Road to move back home to Manchester.

One close friend said: "His records haven't been quite as popular as he wanted. But he seems relaxed about it and wants to move to the next stage of his career. He is now determined to get back into acting." Adam quit Corrie last April to launch a career as a singer. His debut single I Breathe Again hit No 5. But his second, Everything My Heart Desires, only got to No 25. His latest single Best Thing, released five weeks ago, also reached No 25 before sinking without trace.

Adam is unlikely to return to Coronation Street. The pal said: "He has read one movie script which excited him." Adam is understood to be preparing to move back to his family home at Northwich, Cheshire. The pal said: "He never took to London. He can't wait to get back North so he can be himself again."

A spokesman for Adam's managers Nemesis said: "He is up for one or two U.S. film projects. But he is not giving up singing." Adam's record company Polydor said: "He's working on a new track. We'll wait to see how well that does before taking a decision on an album release." But a senior source revealed: "His new single will only be released if he gets a role in a TV movie."

NHS hopes soap will rope in 15,000 nurses
27 February 2000

CORONATION Street is being used to recruit 15,000 new nurses in a bid to ease Britain's health crisis. Health Secretary Alan Milburn will announce the £4million TV advertising drive tomorrow - with screenings during breaks in Britain's favourite soap opera, which is watched by up to 15 million people.

A current storyline involves male nurse Martin Platt, played by Sean Wilson, and his sizzling affair (top left) with fellow nurse Rebecca Hopkins (Jill Halfpenny).

The urgency of getting more nurses on the wards was emphasised last week when figures from the National Audit Office showed that last year 57,000 patients had their surgery scrapped on the day it was due because of a beds shortage. And another report said that staff shortages were putting lives at risk in nine out of 10 casualty units - 20 per cent of emergency patients having to wait longer for treatment than the two- hour limit laid down by the Patient's Charter.

To help beat the crisis, Mr Milburn wants the new nurses to be in place within the next three years. He hopes to tempt new recruits by giving nurses more responsibilities, including training them to stand in for doctors, administering chemotherapy to cancer victims and setting fractures. The Health Secretary will tell an NHS conference in Birmingham qualified nurses can now earn £ 20,000 a year.

Mr Milburn said yesterday: "Everyone wants more nurses and we are making slow but steady progress with the biggest number in the profession for seven years." But he added: "If we step up the pace of modernisation we can create a faster and fairer health service."

The TV ads will tell the true story of a toddler called Joe who is run over by a car and saved by the skill of three nurses. The slogan will say "Be part of the team to save Joe. Join the NHS."

Out with a bang
25 February 2000

DEPARTING Corrie star Jane Danson wants to bow out in a blaze of controversy.

Sexy Jane, who ends her role as Leanne Battersby in July, hopes scriptwriters will continue with the juicy storylines that have seen her character pay off drug debts with nookie. "I would like her to become more of a wild child and explore her feisty side before she goes," Jane says.

Corrie corpse riddle
24 February 2000 by Jamie Charles

A BUILDING site body is set to rock Coronation Street. Human remains will be found by Vinny Sorrell and Steve McDonald as they continue work on the Victoria Street development. And when police discover the identity of the dead man or woman, at least one Street regular will be devastated.

The Corrie corpse will be the soap's major storyline as Spring approaches. A Street insider said last night: "Everyone has been sworn to secrecy as we want it to become a big guessing game for the fans. How long has the body been there? Who is the victim?"

The drama surfaces as Ken Barlow - actor Bill Roache - researches a series of murders in the Victorian era. His new book on Weatherfield history will identify the great grandfather of butcher Fred Elliott as the culprit. But the current cadaver will NOT be linked to the killings of yesteryear. The source said: "Fred's homicidal ancestor is just a red herring. "The police will identify the body and go knocking on a door in Weatherfield. The occupant - or occupants - will be left devastated."

So who could the Street stiff be? Here are some candidates and likely odds:

• 5-4: The brutal husband of Gwen Loveday. The unseen wife-beater has left seamstress Gwen nervy and in debt.
• 3-1: Slimeball drug dealer Jez, who got Leanne Battersby hooked on cocaine and forced her into sex. His gangster pals weren't pleased when he set up a raid on the Rovers. They came away empty-handed.
• 5-1: Landlady Natalie Barnes' son Tony Horrocks. Also involved in drugs, he helped to identify the killers of Des Barnes before doing a runner.
• 10-1: Motor dealer spiv Terry Duckworth, whose welded-together car contributed to the death of mum-of-twins Judy Mallett. Has lonely widower Gary taken a secret vengeance?
• 25-1: Curly's estranged wife Raquel Watts, who returned in a New Year special to tell him he had a daughter. Curly seemed to take it calmly that Raquel had fallen for a French-man and would never return to Weatherfield. But did he?
• 50-1: He's supposed to be back-packing around the world. But did someone back-pack Andy McDonald off because he was so boring?
• 100-1: Hairdresser Fiona Middleton, whose cop fiance was so bitter about her fling with Jim McDonald that he left her at the altar. Did he leave her under the foundations, too?

Street star's car damaged in arson attack
23 February 2000

Coronation Street star Johnny Briggs' prized Mercedes was badly damaged in an arson attack near his luxury apartment. The 64-year-old actor, who plays Mike Baldwin, left his P-registration vehicle in a private garage near his home at Salford Quays in Manchester. Vandals broke into a neighbouring building and set it alight. The blaze spread along the row of garages, causing roof linings to drip down and damage the bodywork of the actor's car. Ten garages were damaged in two rows of outbuildings near his home at Merchant Quay.

A Coronation Street spokeswoman said: "Johnny does not want to comment because it is a police matter. "There was damage to his car and it is being investigated. I think this is the first time he's had anything vandalised. "Nobody was targeting Johnny, the fire was started at another garage and spread to his." A spokesman for Greater Manchester Police said: "The fire is being treated as arson."

Bullies made life hell
23 February 2000

CORONATION Street's gymslip mum-to-be has revealed her real-life school torment - as a target for playground bullies. Millions of soap fans this week saw Gail Platt learn her 13-year-old daughter Sarah-Louise was pregnant.

But actress Tina O'Brien, who joined Corrie as Sarah-Louise five months ago, had different fears at that age. Reliving her own school days she spoke of being beaten up by another pupil jealous of her TV career. Tina, 16, who lives at home in Manchester with her dad Steve and mum Tina said: "There was a girl who was always trying to make my life a misery. "One day I was leaving school with a pal. We were laughing and joking and this other girl said: 'What are you smirking at?' "She laid into me, raining blow after blow, pulling my hair and calling me a bitch. It really hurt. There were other girls, too, who were jealous of my TV roles. But I didn't let any of them get me down."

Before landing her part in Weatherfield, Tina played a junkie wild child in The Cops. She has also tried to woo actor Chris Ecclestone in the BBC's Clocking Off. But the bullying started when she won her first role in kids' drama The Ward. Tina said: "It was stupid. I'd never done anything to them - just like several other innocent girls who got picked on."

So she finds it easy to understand why the likes of Sarah-Louise end up going astray. Tina said: "Everybody hits that stage where the more your parents try to keep you close, the more you want to break free." She smiled: "But I was nowhere near as bad as Sarah-Louise is - although my mum might disagree."

Street rat baby cam
22 February 2000

CORONATION STREET'S controversial teen pregnancy storyline is heading for a sensational new twist. Anguished mum Gail Platt, whose 13-year-old daughter Sarah Louise is a gymslip mum-to-be, is preparing to pass off the baby as hers. And she's planning to take Sarah Lou, actress Tina O'Brien, to her brother Stephen's home in Canada to hide the truth from Weatherfield gossips.

The astonishing turn of events will delight husband Martin, who is carrying on a torrid affair with nurse Rebecca Hopkins. For love-rat Platt - actor Sean Wilson - encourages his missus to go so he can continue his blistering extra-marital love-ins.

A Street insider said: "This storyline will run and run. Martin appears to be a shining light to Gail because he is so calm and rational. "But he's really thinking of himself. He puts his decision to leave Gail for Rebecca on ice when the pregnancy crisis engulfs them. "But the reason he's so calm and collected is because he wants to work out how he can support his family and make love to his mistress on a regular basis." And the source added: "Martin was a popular character with viewers, but that has all changed. "He'll become the man they love-to-hate as the drama progresses."

Viewers will also be shocked when cafe worker Gail - actress Helen Worth - suggests a temporary move to Canada. Martin is mightily in favour and the backstage insider added: "Gail sees her suggestion of taking Sarah Lou to Canada as the only way out. "She is even prepared to return home with the baby claiming it's hers and not Sarah Lou's."

My bully torment
20 February 2000

CORONATION Street star Jill Halfpenny spoke last night of the agony of being bullied as a teenager. Jill - Martin Platt's sexy nurse-on-the-side Rebecca in the soap - had to fight off girls who picked on her because of her "geeky" looks and talent for drama. But the stunning actress said the vicious taunting just made her even more determined to succeed.

Jill, 24 - who starred in kids' TV drama Byker Grove when she was 13 - said: "Some of the children were quite nasty and that isn't too easy to handle when you are only 13. I was very geeky looking and loved school plays and drama and that doesn't make you very popular with other pupils. "I remember times when I would get on the bus and other kids would shout horrible things at me and tell me I was rubbish. "I would arrive home very upset. But although the nasty comments hurt, I was a very determined young girl and always bounced back."

Jill's strength of character has helped her become one of the biggest new stars in the world of soap. From the moment she arrived on the Street, nurse Rebecca has set pulses racing. And her affair with family man Martin has had Corrie viewers on the edge of their seats. Jill said: "I didn't know what to expect when Rebecca got together with Martin. He and Gail are such popular characters that I thought there would be a bad reaction. "But that hasn't been the case. I have had some letters encouraging me to put a spanner in the works for the Platts."

Jill, who was brought up in Gateshead, Tyne and Wear, now lives in London with her boyfriend of five years. He is also an actor but she prefers not to name him. She is also careful not to give too much away about what happens to Rebecca and Martin. Jill said: "All I am sure of is that there will be a lot of heartache and pain. "But I don't know if they end up together. It will be as exciting for me as it is for everyone else finding out."

Rock star Curly's got Street cred
20 February 2000

CORRIE actor Kevin Kennedy is set to become a huge pop star after an anonymous tape sent to music chiefs was voted a hit. Kennedy - who plays hapless Curly Watts - has been signed up for a lucrative five-album deal on the strength of just one song. Bosses at RCA Records sent the single - Bulldog Nation - with a blank cover to top pop pundits including Jonathan King. They all agreed it was a sure-fire hit.

Denise Beighton, of RCA's parent company BMG, said they were "blown away" by Kevin's singing talents. She said: "He has this incredibly sexy voice and a really good rock-and-roll sound - a bit like Bryan Adams. We were totally stunned. It was brilliant."

Kevin, 38, will make his solo singing debut on Ian Wright's ITV chat show next Friday. Former Street star Sarah Lancashire - who played Curly's wife Raquel - has been lined up for the video.

Ex Corrie star dies
18 February 2000 by John Mahoney

EX-CORONATION Street star Louise Duprey, whose soap exit gave Spice Girl Mel B her showbiz break, has been found dead in her one-bed flat. The body of the 42-year-old recluse - who broke Andy McDonald's heart as his screen lover Amy Nelson - may have lain there for a week. Police are waiting for a post mortem examination report but they believe mum-of-one Louise died from natural causes.

She quit the Street in 1994 following a nervous breakdown. It was her illness that forced Granada bosses to hire a lookalike to film her parting scene ... and they handed the part to Melanie Brown who went on to become Scary Spice. Mel B was filmed from behind in silhouette for her one and only Street appearance telling Andy (actor Nick Cochrane) she was returning to her boyfriend in Trinidad.

Louise was found by a neighbour who was worried that - despite her solitary lifestyle in her first-floor housing association flat in Mossley Hill, Liverpool - she hadn't been seen around the 1960s detached property.

Last night Ken Morley, who played checkout girl Amy's Bettabuys boss Reg Holdsworth, said: "It's so sad. She had some problems but was a great kid." Nick Cochrane, who was axed from Corrie three years ago, declared he was "shocked and saddened". He added: "Louise was very talented and a joy to work with. My condolences go to her family." And ex-Brooksider Simon O'Brien, who starred with Louise in the hit drama Dancing Through The Dark, said: "This is horrible. I recall her laughing about how lucky she was to be able to play someone 10 years younger."

Louise's 23-year-old daughter Marcelle said: "To try to tell her life in a few words could not do her justice. Perhaps I'll be able to say more when I know what happened." Louise's stepmum Jean Duprey said at her Toxteth home that a statement may be released after her funeral today or the inquest result on April 25.

Tragedy of soap's Amy
18 February 2000

HER face was vaguely familiar to the university students living in nearby flats. Older folk would swear they knew her from somewhere but couldn't put their finger on quite who she was. Fallen actress Louise Duprey was a woman who could have had everything. Stardom, wealth and comfort for life.

But in recent years she had become just another ordinary woman living alone in a first-floor flat in the student-populated suburb. She became more and more solitary - virtually reclusive according to neighbours. But no one thought her life would end in circumstances that could have been part of any sad TV drama.

Tragic Louise, aged just 42, died alone in her rented apartment, it was revealed yesterday. Her body is thought to have laid there for several days before housing association staff became concerned for her safety. They called police after spotting piles of mail behind her front door. Exactly how she died was still being investigated yesterday, with an inquest planned for April. It is believed she may have taken a drugs overdose. Police say there are no suspicious circumstances.

To millions of soap fans Louise should have been the one half of Coronation Street's ground-breaking mixed race marriage to pony-tailed supermarket worker Andy McDonald - actor Nick Cochrane. TV bosses had big plans for the pretty actress who looked years younger than her age. But back in 1993 the pressure of starring in Britain's No1 show - coupled with becoming a big name and public property - got to her.

Just as she was about to record the historic marriage scenes Louise broke down. She locked herself in the dressing room toilets and wouldn't come out. The TV station doctors saw she was suffering from nervous exhaustion and immediately sent her home. Within days they had seen her again - and it was clear she was never going to come back.

Scriptwriters were hurriedly called to an emergency conference - and as quick as Louise's character Amy Nelson had been rocketed to national fame, she was written out. Street bosses brought in an unknown double for the final scenes - one Mel B, now of Spice Girl fame. Instead of seeing Amy tie the knot, TV viewers saw her leave Andy to go back to her native Trinidad with son Dominic to be with former lover Errol.

A highly-placed Street source told The Mirror yesterday: "Louise's death is very sad news. "She was a lovely girl and our deepest sympathy goes to all her family. Coronation Street had big plans for her character, but sadly it was never to be. "If things had gone well there is no doubt that Louise could have still been in the programme to this day. "Amy was set to explore the racial marriage avenue and it was a big subject for us back in 1993. "It was sad to have Louise leave in the way she did, but we wished her well for the future."

Soon after quitting, Louise moved back from London to her native Liverpool. She lived in a converted 1930s detached house in Mossley Hill near Liverpool University. In contrast to the downstairs flats, where the windows are adorned with flowers and curtains, the windows of Louise's home seemed completely bare. A neighbour said last night: "I knew she had been in Coronation Street, but she was very solitary - a bit of a recluse. She lived upstairs for five years but in all that time I only spoke to her once. "When anyone called to the flat she never let them in. It is really sad to think she died alone."

The actress, whose 23-year-old daughter Marcelle is following in her TV footsteps, blamed the heavy workload for her departure. She said: "I was simply worn out after working eight months solid. "I just couldn't switch off at home. I was being written into the show more and more. I didn't feel frightened about it, but I didn't want to let anyone down. "After leaving I am trying to take each day as it comes. "I can now live my life normally, and know that in a couple of months I'll probably be old news."

Louise started her career in theatre. Her big TV break came when she appeared in Russ Abbot's drama September Song. The director also worked on Coronation Street and before she knew it Louise was set for soap stardom.

Last night Nick Cochrane - himself now written out of Corrie - said: "She was a joy to work with. She always seemed relaxed and confident in herself and she brought a depth to Amy's character which came over well on screen. I'm so sorry to hear about her death." Ken Morley, who played Amy's Bettabuys boss Reg Holdsworth said: "She was a good kid. Her death is a shock." Louise's funeral will take place in Liverpool today.

Daughter Marcelle said last night: "I don't want to comment about my mother until I know what has happened. To try and tell you about her life in a few words could not do her justice."

Street clean-up
14 February 2000 by Tony Leonard

SEX-SOAKED Coronation Street is heading for a big late-spring clean-up. The top soap's bosses are getting anxious about sleaze-driven storylines that are alienating fans, advertisers and even cast members. So they're calling on scriptwriters to come up with fresh ideas to restore the show's traditional warmth and humour.

Fun no-nookie-nonsense characters like Roy Cropper, Tyrone Dobbs, Fred Elliott and son Ashley Peacock will spearhead the bid to stop the Street's drift into decadence . . . with a Granada source saying last night: "There is a lot of top-level anxiety about the seeming need to outshock EastEnders. "We risk alienating even our sponsor Cadbury's."

Nice sentiments . . . though it seems the risk will be taken for a good few weeks yet before the old values kick back in. For the Street's current seedy storylines are even more shocking than was first thought. Pregnant-at-13 Sarah Louise Platt will be FIVE months gone when her poor mum Gail finds out. Meanwhile, Gail's cheating hubby Martin continues philandering with his "naughty nurse" mistress Rebecca. Linda Sykes will now cosy up to a pal of wrinkly fiance Mike Baldwin . . . While her last conquest, Mike's son Mark, whisks bed-hopping ex-junkie Leanne Battersby off for a dirty weekend.

Corrie cliffhanger tops ratings
11 February 2000

An episode of Coronation Street has been listed as the most watched programme of 1999. A total of 19.82 million viewers tuned in on Sunday March 7 to see if two-timing salesman Ian Bentley would marry Sharon Gaskell, according to figures released by the Royal Television Society.

Corrie and ITV's quiz show Who Wants to be a Millionaire? each scooped four out of the top 10 places, all of which went to ITV programmes. The top-rated game show clocked in at second place, with 19.21 million viewers for an episode on the same night as the winning Coronation Street instalment.

In contrast, the BBC highest rating was an EastEnders episode, shown on Christmas Day. It was 11th most popular with 15.71 million viewers. ITV's Heartbeat and A Touch of Frost also scored highly, winning 17.01 and 16.95 million viewers respectively for individual episodes. And the channel's coverage of Manchester United's Champions League clash with Bayern Munich on May 26 and England's crucial November 17 Euro 2000 qualifier against Scotland were listed in 12th and 18th place respectively.

BBC chiefs are criticised in the report for failing to make a bigger impact on viewers' tastes. Author William Phillip wrote: "Take away EastEnders and a handful of specials and little remains in the top 50 to justify the corporation's pretensions as a convenor of the whole nation for shared amusement." But a spokeswoman for the BBC said: "We are into range, not ratings alone. What we do is try to offer a quality range of programmes. It's not doing viewers justice to look at things purely in terms of ratings."

Welcoming the success of Coronation Street, producer Jane MacNaught said: "We're delighted the RTS has recognised that Coronation Street is the most watched and the most popular programme on British TV."

I've taken Leanne as far as I can...
10 February 2000

CORONATION Street's Leanne Battersby has stunned producers by deciding to quit the soap. Actress Jane Danson, who has played tearaway Leanne for three years, said last night: "It's time to move on and explore other roles. "I'll be sad to leave the friends I've made but I feel I have taken Leanne Battersby as far as I can. "I've had tremendous storylines which have really stretched me as an actress."

Frantic behind-the-scenes negotiations failed to persuade 20-year-old Jane to stay. Bosses of the ITV show even offered to make her its most highly-paid young star. But money was never an issue for Jane as she looked to the future. She revealed that she agonised over whether to sign a new contract in July, then resolved not to.

Her move shocked programme makers. They had more plans for Leanne, who has already been controversially involved in abortion, casual sex and cocaine addiction. Dismayed producer Jane Macnaught has pledged not to kill off Leanne, first member of the loudmouth Battersby family to leave the Street. They were brought in by former producer Brian Park in 1997 to give the Manchester-based show a brash new look, And bosses are sure that the scandals surrounding Leanne have helped to boost ratings.

At 16, she defied her parents and eloped to Gretna Green to marry teenager Nick Tilsley. She later had an abortion in an attempt to save her marriage but had an affair too. Three years on Leanne was still causing mayhem while pulling pints as a Rovers Return barmaid. She has been caught up in a robbery, beaten up and slept with a drug dealer to clear her debts.

Now Jane Danson plans a new life in London with her actor boyfriend Robert Beck, friends say. Last month Robert left TV's Emmerdale soap, in which he played bisexual Gavin Ferris. A source close to the couple said: "She's been pining for Robert since he moved back to London. "When he was in Emmerdale they had the best of both worlds as they were able to see each other in the week. "They are very much in love and we wouldn't be surprised to hear wedding bells later in the year. "Jane loves life in London and says the showbiz world down there is a lot cooler. "And she says she'll be able to go out and be virtually ignored in the capital, whereas she can get loads of hassle in Manchester. "She won't be out of work too long - she's already got a lot of irons in the fire. "Word is that she could pop up in a major BBC series like Holby City, just like her ex-Street pal Angela Griffin did."

At the Street's production headquarters, Jane Macnaught said: "Jane Danson has shown immense commitment to the programme. "She is a hugely talented actress and we are really sorry to see her go. "We are leaving the door very much ajar for her to return at any time."

STREET star Sally Whittaker is comforting battered women on visits to a refuge in Stockport. The actress, whose TV character was beaten by ex-partner Greg Kelly, met some of the women while researching the story last year. Sally, 36-year-old mother of two, told a pal: "This is something I have been wanting to do without shouting about it from the rooftops."

Corrie barmaid is broody
9 February 2000

Corrie actress Jayne Ashbourne, who plays scheming Rovers barmaid Amy, is keen to become a mother. Jayne, 30, is single after failed romances with Bread star Peter Howitt and Queer as Folk's Craig Kelly. She said she gets "broody" when playing with her niece Ruby. She added: "I don't want to leave having kids too late, so within the next five years I think. That's important to me."

Jayne has defended her devious on-screen character. This week Amy lied about a suicide attempt and claimed ex-boyfriend Dev had rejected her after she'd became pregnant. Jayne told Hello!: "She's a sociopath with a dysfunctional family. Underneath I think she's vulnerable and extremely insecure. She's in love with Dev, but it's obsessive and comes from need."

Rita to quit Corrie ?
9 February 2000 by John Mahoney

CORRIE legend Barbara Knox is so fed up with sex and violence on The Street she has threatened to retire. The actress has already had a heart-to-heart about her future with new boss Jane McNaught. Barbara spoke of her concern over storylines that are set to shock fans.

Corrie chiefs pleaded with the 66-year-old star, who has played Weatherfield favourite Rita Sullivan for 28 years, to stay. But she has told friends of her fears about the upsurge in scenes of sex, drug-taking and domestic violence being pumped into TV soaps. The last straw was rumours that writers were planning to bring Rita's long lost GAY son to Weatherfield.

A show insider said: "Barbara is unhappy. There has been an almighty increase in shocking storylines which have not been everybody's cup of tea, particularly the established, experienced actors. "There have been all sorts of ridiculous plot ideas - including the one about a gay son from Rita's past turning up out of the blue. "In public, Barbara says she is enjoying the show and is pleased with the new producer. "But privately she is keeping her options open and will decide on her future in the next month or so."

Divorced Barbara's contract is up for renewal this autumn. Friends say she also fears she will be left exhausted by plans for Rita which include getting a licence to run a post office in her shop.

The insider added: "Barbara loves working on the Street but, a bit like Liz Dawn who plays Vera Duckworth, she doesn't want to overstay her time. "She'll decide soon whether 28 years is long enough."

Corrie's Fred arested in massage parlour
8 February 2000 by Derek Robins

Corrie butcher Fred Elliott will shock viewers when he's arrested in a massage parlour next week. Booming Fred, played by John Savident, will be caught with his trousers down when he's found in a compromising situation during a police raid.

Disaster strikes when Fred decides to try alternative therapy after the NHS fails to cure his back problem. He gets into deep water by visiting curvaceous masseur Mrs Maudsley who wants to rub more than his back.

John, 58, whose dilemma will be screened by ITV on February 18, said: "I don't know how Fred is going to live this down as his arrest is seen by Tyrone and so his secret is out. "But I really enjoyed filming the scenes and it's a great storyline."

Corrie pulls 31st barmaid
5 February 2000 by Jonathan Donald
Coronation Street has introduced a stunning new barmaid - its 31st - to beguile and torment Weatherfield's men. Geena Gregory, played by Jennifer James, will begin pulling pints and heartstrings in the soap on February 9.

Wigan-born James, 21, is new to TV, having left drama school last summer. "Working in the Rovers is fantastic and to follow in the footsteps of the other 30 barmaids is an honour," said the young actress yesterday. The glamorous newcomer was found by casting directors while playing a barmaid in a play at Manchester's Royal Exchange Theatre. After a chat and an audition, she was given the role.

The actress said she was reared on the soap, adding: "I've watched the Street since I was little, so it's scary working with people I've grown up with," she said. The shapeley brunette will set pulses racing when she arrives at the Rovers next week. The new character is drafted in by barman Vinny to replace Amy Goskirk, who leaves soon.

The first Corrie barmaid was Concepta Riley, played by Doreen Keogh from 1960 to 1975. But none have surpassed the queen of the bar Bet Lynch, played by Julie Goodyear from 1966 to 1995.

Phil Muddlemiss
3 February 2000

CORONATION Street Casanova Phil Middlemiss is to star in Where The Heart Is after declaring he would never appear in the show. Phil, who played Des Barnes, quit the Street in November 1998 and six months later told The Mirror: "I don't want to do a Harbour Lights or Where The Heart Is or Holby City. That's not what I want out of life. "After eight years of being in the most high-profile show on television I want to do quirky roles and try my hand at something completely new."

But Phil, 36, started filming the top ITV drama with Men Behaving Badly actress Leslie Ash in Yorkshire last Tuesday. He stars as David Buckley, husband of nurse Karen, played by Leslie, who joined the series last week. Phil and Leslie move to Skelthwaite to start a new life after he loses his job. He gets work in a paper factory while the district nurse, Pam Ferris, takes on Leslie. Phil brings a daughter from a previous marriage, played by Hollyoaks star Kelly Greenwood - Zara Morgan.

The part is a U-turn for Phil. Since he left Corrie he has been in panto, one-off ITV drama Bostock's Cup and hosted health series Bodycheck . A spokeswoman for United TV, which makes Where The Heart Is, said: "David is a caring husband and father - nothing like womanising Des Barnes with his hordes of girls. "Phil and Leslie, who will be seen on screen in June, play a couple who are very much in love and are trying hard to settle into a new life.""

Phil's departure from the Street left barely a dry eye among soap fans. After a string of doomed love affairs he married Natalie, played by Denise Welch, but died in her arms after being attacked by drug dealers. Before Natalie the bed-hopping bookie had dated and dumped 11 women including Raquel Watts - Sarah Lancashire, Samantha Failsworth - Tina Hobley, and Maxine Heavey - Tracy Shaw.

Coronation Street to have first schoolgirl mum
31 January 2000

Coronation Street bosses are courting controversy by screening a new storyline showing Gail Platt's 13-year-old daughter Sarah Louise discovering she's 5 months pregnant. The stoppy teenager got in the family way after having following an unprotected sex romp with a schoolboy. Sarah Louise, played by Tina O'Brien, will keep the baby making her Corrie's first schoolgirl mum.

Gail, played by Helen Worth, is shocked by her daughter's news and demands that the pregnancy is only discussed within the family. She comes up with a plan to sneak off to Canada, come back with the baby and bring it up as her own. However, Sarah's secret is out when her so called friend Candice tells the whole school.

Corrie chiefs are reportedly keen to avoid accusations that the new storyline will promote teenage pregnancies and will instead try to portray the harsh reality of being a 13-year-old mum. This is the second time the soap has raised eyebrows this year for tackling a controversial subject. A recent storyline about drugs involving barmaid Leanne Battersby was attacked by former stars including Sarah Lancashire, who played Raquel Watts.

Film career blow for ex-Corrie girl
26 January 2000 by Jonathan Donald

Ex-Corrie crimper Angela Griffin has been rejected for a film role because she couldn't talk "proper".The Leeds-born actress, 23, now in BBC drama Holby City after playing Fiona Middleton in the Street, yearns to break into movies. But she was rejected for a film in December. The director said she couldn't do the Queen's English. "He said my accent may close doors in the future," Angela told TV Plus. "That battered my confidence."

Now she is planning a three-month holiday to help her recover from being snubbed for the movie role. "It was devastating because all us actors have egos the size of houses," said Angela, who last year split from lover Will Mellor. "I went home and cried. But you have to be able to bounce back. What I'd really like to do is spend the next three months travelling with mates." Her grand tour would take in the Caribbean, Maldives and Far East.

Angela said she would love to go back to Coronation Street for a one-off episode similar to Sarah Lancashire's dramatic appearance. The Holby City star was mesmerized by the scenes screened at New Year when Lancashire returned as Raquel for a showdown with Curly Watts. "I thought it was amazing," said Griffin, who quit in 1998 after five years playing crimper Fiona. "The scripts were brilliant and I'd love to do something like that."

Les beats jail
26 January 2000

CORONATION STREET skiver Les Battersby will be sentenced to hard labour when he is finally brought to book on benefit cheat charges. But he won't be in prison - just doing community service by cleaning graffiti off the streets of Weatherfield.

A soap insider says the show's bosses decided Les would not be jailed because he's too important to the show. The source added: "There are some great storylines coming up for the Battersbys and we couldn't afford to lose the head of the clan to a jail sentence."

Streetwise
24 January 2000 By Deborah Ross

I am meeting the actress Sarah Lancashire at Brown's Hotel for tea. Brown's is very, very smart. I'm early and hang about the lobby. "Are you waiting for someone?" the uniformed staff keep asking. "Are you sure?" I think they're just being nice until it suddenly clicks that, actually, they're worried I might be a bag lady who's stepped in for the warmth. Sarah arrives. She is very pretty. Big blue eyes, neat blonde bob, the sort of wonderful complexion I'm going to have in my next life, because I've told God I'll be very good in this one if he lets me have a wonderful complexion in the next.

I want to impress her. I don't want her to think that, along with having rubbish skin, I'm pathetically unworldly, too. I pretend I feel most at home in Brown's. "The cloakroom is just there," I say. "Shall we go in for tea?" I say. "Fine, lovely," she says. I note she has beautifully long, clear-polished nails. "Beautiful nails," I sigh enviously. "Are they yours?" "Are they bugger!" she says. "They're stuck on. I've got horrible hands, actually. They're like feet." I think we might get on.

We go into the lounge where the pianist is tinkling away and the wives of American bankers sit with their children and their children's vast Hamley's bags. We order tea for two. Sarah pours and forgets to use the little silver strainer thingie. "Oops. Bloody hell," she says. The tea leaves stick most attractively to our teeth. I think it most unlikely that we'll pull. It turns out, yes, that she is as rubbish at being smart as I am. Neither of us, for example, would have sufficient courage to go into a shop like Prada. We'd know they'd know we didn't really belong. Sarah says she doesn't mind about this, actually. She doesn't want a £789 Prada hand-bag. "You're only buying status, a bit of élitism. I've worked bloody hard for my money and I'm not spending it on that." I say the thing with me is that there just wouldn't be any point, because I move in the kind of circles where people can't tell a Prada bag from a Sainsbury one.

She says: "And neither can I."

We would like to smoke, but can't, because Brown's is irritatingly non-smoking. She says she gave up smoking last year, and actually managed it from August through to Christmas Day. And then? "I put the turkey in the oven, then realised I hadn't taken the giblets out. They were in there in a plastic bag somewhere. I had to take out the turkey, take out the stuffing, shove my hand up its bottom... I felt like such a failure. I was nearly in tears. Then my brother came in with a packet of Silk Cut and that was that."

We agree to pay up in Brown's and go elsewhere. The bill comes to £59.85. Sarah is brilliantly appalled. There's a space for "gratuity" on the credit card receipt. "Don't leave a gratuity! Don't! Don't," she cries.

She is quite a socialist. She has been most disappointed by Tony Blair. "I voted him in, but I'm not for him anymore. He's without direction. He's not the socialist I thought he was. Nothing he does or says rings true." She does not intend to visit the Dome: "£750m? It's obscene. I wouldn't step through the door. It's just a big tit on the landscape built by wanky tossers."

"Is that Wanky Tossers Limited, or Wanky Tossers & Son," I say, "because I don't want to libel the wrong firm."

"It's Wanky Tossers plc," she says.

I think that Brown's might be quite pleased when we leave.

We go to a little café two doors down. As we go in, a group of workmen at the first table nudge each other and whisper loudly: "Is it her? It is. It is. Isn't it?" Sarah winces. I scold her. I tell her not to be so egotistical. What makes you think they're talking about you? They might be talking about me. They might have mistaken me for Michelle Pfeifer. It's a common enough error. Honestly, you're so vain, I bet you even think this article is going to be about you, don't you? "Sorry," she says. We order two coffees from the nice Italian man behind the counter.

We are charged £2.

"You should raise your prices, mate," she tells him. "You should see what they're charging for tea next door."

"And it doesn't even come in a bag!' I say."And it doesn't even come in a bag!," she confirms.

We light up. I think that we are bestest friends by now. I think, even, that, if she ever had a slumber party, I would get invited. I am pleased about this. I do admire her so.

She's a tremendous actress, I think, and if you never saw her as Raquel Wolstenhulme in Coronation Street then all I can say is: "Poor you!" And I know what I'm talking about. I love Coronation Street. I've been addicted for years. I've been addicted ever since Elsie Tanner painted her bathroom black and the marvellous Mrs Malaprop that was Hilda Ogden described it as "disgusting... almost phonographic! " So I've seen the greats, the Elsies and Hildas, who were as brilliantly watchable as anything you might see at the National and I would certainly count Sarah's Raquel among them.

How best to describe Raquel? Well, she wore little skirts and big heels and big hair and big make-up and was Miss Betterbuys, 1991. Although, mostly, she worked behind the bar at the Rovers, she rather fancied herself as a glamour model.

I remember her going off to London to do a slipper shoot. It was not a great success. "None of the slippers fitted," she complained on her return. "I told them I was a size six, but I've got long toes like my Auntie Doris." Yes, there was comedy. But such was the power of Sarah's performance there was vulnerability and heartache and real tragedy and painful gullibility there, too.

I almost could not bear it when she took French lessons from Ken Barlow and Ken asked her if she knew any French. "Yes, she replied, "A man once taught me how to say: 'It's a nice day, isn't it?'" Ken asked to hear it. "Voulez-vous coucher avec moi, ce soir?" she answered so proudly. Funny, but sad. Sad, but funny. That was, I think, Raquel's brilliance.

Sarah left the series in 1996. I tell her I still miss her. She says that's a kind thing for me to say, but in the end she just couldn't be doing with all the fame. She just couldn't get comfortable with it. "You walk down the street and you're Raquel, not Sarah." She couldn't do the personal appearance circuit. "It's big money, but everyone's disappointed when you, rather than your character, turns up."

She gave a couple of interviews to TV mags and the like at the beginning, but it was depressing. "I would be asked about my favourite outfits. I felt like an airhead. I felt what I was doing in my life was crap." She refused, ultimately, to do any publicity for the series. "And I told them that I would leave if they made me."

Her post-Corrie career started well enough with the amiable ITV drama Where The Heart Is, but I think this year is going to be her year, frankly. She is currently in the new, four-part Paul Abbot drama, Clocking Off, which started last night on BBC1. An ensemble piece centred on a textile factory, Sarah plays Yvonne, a single mother of three who torches her own house for the insurance and ends up living with her neighbour, Christopher Ecclestone. It is cracking stuff. I tell her I'm glad she didn't end up in panto with some old trollop from Neighbours, as so many former soap stars do.

She says: "I was offered panto, but I chose not to do it. They could have offered me £500,000, and I wouldn't have done it." I don't think she is being snobby here. She is just bright enough to know that some avenues are best left untravelled. She has yet to do Hello! "even though they offered to send me and the family to the Seychelles. For free! I said: 'Please. Why can't you send a family that can't afford it?'"

She was born and brought up in Oldham where her father, Geoffrey, was a writer who actually penned some 150 early episodes of Coronation Street before going on to create the successful sit-coms The Cuckoo Waltz and The Lovers.

She adores her father "a very bright, intelligent, creative man" as she does her mother, Hilda, too. "She's the greatest woman ever." She has three brothers, one older, one younger and a twin, Simon.

She was dispatched to a single-sex private school at 11 and didn't much like it at all. Having been bought up in a largely male household, she wasn't, she says, very girlish. "I found girls' conversations very difficult. Hair, nail-varnish, boys. I thought boys were just great people to play cricket with." She took up drama at 17, when it was part of one of her A-levels. "That was the first time I went on stage, and I found it exhilarating."

She trained at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama, then went on to teach theatre at Salford University College. She was teaching there when she landed the part of Raquel. By this time, she'd already married her teenage sweetheart Gary Hargreaves, a saxophonist and had two sons, Matthew, now 12 and Thomas, 10. She and Gary are now divorced, but remain friends.

She sounds like she's a brilliant mother. She does rollerblading. She does kickabouts in the park. She is quite good in goal, she says. I say I'm rubbish in goal. I say my son gets very annoyed with me because I can let in 456 goals in four minutes. The other day he even decided to give me goal-keeping tips on the top deck of the bus. "THE TROUBLE WITH YOU MUMMY," he said, in a very loud voice, "IS THAT YOU DON'T KNOW HOW TO KEEP YOUR LEGS TOGETHER." The driver even winked at me when we got off!

She says, yes, children can be gloriously embarrassing. She remembers being in her GP's surgery with one her of hers, when he pointed at the man opposite and said: "MUMMY, WHY HAS THAT MAN GOT SUCH BAD TEETH?' She wanted to die, she says. But, then, "the thing I really love about kids is their lack of inhibition and honesty. And their questions, like: 'Why does it rain?', so that I have to get all the books out and show them the sea and the sun and evaporation..." So you don't just say: "It's God letting his bath water out. Now shhhh, I'm trying to watch Peak Practice"?

"No. Do you?" "Of course not." She has dated a couple of men since the marriage break-up, but it's a terrible faff and she can't be bothered really. I say I could never date again. You know, all that business of feeling compelled to wear foundation to bed because you don't want him to know you've got rubbish skin. She says she is quite happy without a man, actually. She's brilliant at DIY "I can do wiring, even. And garage doors" plus it's not like her biological clock is ticking. "I've already got my family."

And she has her work, of course. This includes Seeing Red, a Granada TV film about Coral Atkins, the actress and children's home founder, which is being shown in March. Plus she's about to start filming Chambers, Clive Coleman's witty take on barristers which is transferring from Radio 4 to BBC television.

Anyway, she has to go. She's got to get home. She's got the 6pm train to Manchester to catch. I give her a lift in a taxi to Euston. We embrace affectionately. I hope she has that slumber party. We can play stick-on nails. I then realise I forgot to ask her the only question I actually truly wanted to ask her: "Is Mavis hiding in Rita's ever-growing hair-do? How long before the Kabin roof is going to have to be raised?" I do wish someone would answer me on these.

Soapy plot disasters
24 January 2000

DALLAS is the daftest soap ever . . . for resurrecting oil baron Bobby Ewing by pretending he had only died in his wife Pam's dream! A poll into the pottiest plotlines to hit TV found that the scriptwriters' idea for letting actor Patrick Duffy return to the sexy Texas tycoons saga would NEVER be surpassed for nuttiness. The survey - Top Ten Maddest Moments In Soap - says: "It is the yardstick by which all bonkers stories are measured . . . because it wiped out the previous series.

Bobby had been killed by a gunman and Pam was getting on with her life. Then as she woke - hair and makeup intact, of course - Pam realised he wasn't dead after all but just taking a shower!" At least JR (Larry Hagman), looked even shiftier. But the shock certainly troubled spin-off series Knot's Landing, as characters had already departed for Bobby's funeral. Dallas just edged its title from another US cult show Sunset Beach, in which a jewel curse killed residents and turned others into strange creatures.

But our home-made soaps have also come up with some stinkers.

Coronation Street made the list twice, for its "Ghost Of Poison Ivy Tilsley" saga and its long-running story of Derek Wilton and his abducted garden gnome.

Emmerdale figured for the Dingles' kidnapping of an Elvis mannequin. And EastEnders was cited for portraying the Fowlers' Irish relatives as drunk, dimbo yokels, which offended the whole of the Emerald Isle at the time.

Aussie series Neighbours was also accused of a politically-incorrect plot when Ramsay Street's first Oriental family were accused of eating a dog. More Down Under duff came in Home And Away when Bobby Simpson's ghost popped from a fridge. But Brookside got joint third place for its flu-like epidemic of 1995 - a cop-out solution to killing off several unwanted roles.

The poll, commissioned for All About Soap mag, tied the Scouse purge with The Colbys, the Dynasty spin-off which ended with Brit actress Emma Samms being abducted by a UFO. Her character Fallon started the next series of Dynasty without even a mention of her space trip!

Soap transfer coup
20 January 2000 by John Mahoney

BROOKSIDE star Gabrielle Glaister moved into Coronation Street yesterday - vowing to bring Girl Power to Britain's top soap. Blonde Gabby, 39, who played snooty Patricia Farnham in Brookie, arrived in Weatherfield to play Rovers landlady Natalie Barnes' younger sister Debs Brownlow. And they are about to paint the town red as hairdresser Debs leads Natalie astray chasing the blokes. They will become the biggest scourge of Weatherfield's fellas since Elsie Tanner's days.

Gabby quit the scouse soap fed up with the 400-mile slog between her London flat and the Liverpool studios. But she was happy to get back on the motorway for Corrie - the show she has loved since she was a child. Casting staff could not believe how much Gabby looks like Denise Welch, 40, who plays love-hungry Nat. Not only are they both gorgeous, but they immediately hit it off after their first meeting and run-through of lines. Soon Debs will move into Nat's old house and land a job at Audrey's salon.

Last night Gabby said: "I'm a huge fan and I'm thrilled to be here. I'm hoping it won't spoil my enjoyment of the show." A Street source said: "These girls are going to have a blast."

Actress swaps Close for Street
19 January 2000 by Louise Burke

Ex-Brookie star Gabrielle Glaister has swapped The Close for The Street and will make her Corrie debut next month. Glaister, 39, known for her role as Patricia Farnham in the C4 soap, is to play Debs Brownlow - the younger sister of Rovers Return landlady Natalie Barnes.

Debs arrives in Weatherfield on Sunday, February 6, after finishing a stint as a hairdresser on a cruise. Glaister said: "I'm thrilled. I'm a huge fan of Coronation Street." Debs catches up with sister Natalie (Denise Welch) when she moves into Des and Natalie's old house.

Welch said: "The two are obviously close and out to have fun - it will be an opportunity to establish another side to Natalie's character."

Golfing links for ex-Corrie star
19 January 2000 by Simon Holden

Ex-Coronation Street star Joanne Froggatt's DJ fiance proposed - on a golf course in Spain. The actress, 19, who played Ashley's emotionally disturbed ex, Zoe, accepted when Bill Vane, 22, popped the question in La Manga. "We went for a walk on a golf course after dinner because it looked so pretty," said Joanne, who stars in new BBC drama Nature Boy. "He suddenly got down on one knee. I was ecstatic. It was so romantic."

The couple met four years ago when they were introduced to each other by his stepbrother - a pal of Joanne's. Love blossomed a year ago and they have recently bought a house in his hometown Nottingham. But wedding plans are still a long way off. She said: "We are concentrating on making a home before setting a wedding date." However life is not all a bed of roses - Vane's lost his job in a car valeting business.

But the actress has plenty of work in the pipeline to pay the bills, including a BBC adaptation of Joanna Trollope's novel Other People's Children, to be seen in May.

Tracy helps teen
19 January 2000 by John Mahoney
CORONATION Street star Tracy Shaw has befriended a schoolgirl who nearly died from anorexia. The sexy 26-year-old actress, who plays crimper Maxine Harvey, admitted her own battle with the deadly slimming disease more than four years ago. And she agreed to interview teenager Vicki Carter, another victim of the potentially deadly slimming disease, for a telly documentary. "I chose to take this interview on because aspects of her life mirror mine - and I think it's done me good just to talk to someone else about it all," Tracy said yesterday.

Her own weight plummeted to just six stone and she endured a year of agony. Fellow students at Manchester's Arden School of Theatre noticed she used to starve for weeks and hardly had the energy to complete her course. With the help of doctors and family she defeated her illness.

But the haunting memories of her battle for health and fitness returned when she learned of Stockport 16-year-old Vicki's plight. Tracy was so touched by what she read she sent Vicki a Christmas card with a message of hope - if Tracy could survive so could Vicki. It emerged in December how the schoolgirl was refusing to eat and was just three days from death. The frail, 5ft 6in girl weighed just five stones.

Her desperate parents David and Linda went to the High Court where doctors at Stepping Hill Hospital persuaded a judge to let them force-feed her. Because of her age, Vicki had been allowed to make her own decisions until the court decided otherwise. Now she is recovering on an eating disorder unit at Prestwich and her weight is now six-and-a-half stone.

The story prompted an unlikely bond between Vicki and the soap star who have become pals. Tracy spent a day with the TV cameras interviewing Vicki at Bruntwood Park in Stockport, as part of a documentary about anorexia to be broadcast on Trevor McDonald Tonight on ITV tomorrow. A programme source said: "Tracy was brilliant - incredibly nice. As soon as she met Vicki she was ever so friendly. "There were no airs and graces. She just got on with making the programme. There was an incredible rapport between them."

A little over a year ago there was no sign of Vicki's impending mental torment in the Carter household in Offerton. She was preparing for Christmas as a fit, healthy and happy teenager, no different to any of her classmates at Stockport School. But in January she was diagnosed with glandular fever and it deteriorated into anorexia. A psychiatrist considered sectioning Vicki under the Mental Health Act but didn't because it would have affected her possible future career as a teacher.

Vicki agreed to be fed by tube but disconnected it during the night. Her blood pressure plunged, her waist shrivelled to the width of a man's neck and her body began to close down. It was then the hospital went to court with the backing of Vicki's parents.

Last night, Tracy, told how she gave her new pal Vicki a big cuddle after telling her how to help beat her anorexia nightmare. "I was so pleased to meet Vicki and we really got on well. She's a great kid and I'm sure we'll keep in touch," said Tracy. "What struck me most was how well she was getting on with her parents after all that has happened. "She's a brave girl and is in a really friendly family environment."

I've finished Corrie
18 January 2000 by John Mahoney

TELLY favourite Sarah Lancashire has vowed she'll never return to Coronation Street. Millions of soap fans were hoping dizzy Raquel Watts would go back to Weatherfield fulltime after her special appearance was a big hit. But the blonde actress said no . . . and also revealed she'll NEVER strip for the cameras despite sizzling sex scenes in a new drama.

Sarah, 35, returned as Raquel for a 45-minute special to tell dumped hubby Curly he's got a little daughter - and to beg for a divorce. She said: "I was very pleased with the reaction. But that's it." Mum-of-two Sarah has just filmed the steamiest shots of her career for BBC drama Clocking Off. But she drew the line at peeling off. "I've no desire to share my body parts with the nation," she chuckled. "I couldn't pant and groan and look like Juliette Binoche."

Leaf it out... I'm late
17 January 2000 by David Newman

CORRIE cracker Melanie Barker's career with the top soap almost ground to a halt before it had started - thanks to leaves on the line. Melanie plays Mark Baldwin's posh new girlfriend, Claire. But she revealed how she very nearly didn't even make it to the audition for the role. The train taking her from London to Manchester, home of Coronation Street, slithered to a halt - making her two hours late.

Melanie, who played Lisa in the last series of London's Burning, said: "It was a nightmare journey. "The train was delayed because of leaves on the line or something. I arrived in Manchester in a bit of a panic. "Fortunately, the casting directors had waited for me. The audition only took about five minutes - it was very rushed. "But when I was leaving the Granada studios, they rang me and said they thought they'd make my journey back a bit better - and that I'd got the job."

Melanie's character is now in a love tangle involving Mike Baldwin, his fiancee Linda Sykes and his son Mark. Starstruck Melanie said: "I have watched these people on TV for years - then suddenly I was sitting in the Rovers having a drink with Mike Baldwin. "It was scary, but all the cast have been brilliant."

Sarah snubs sex scenes
14 January 2000 by Derek Robins

Corrie star Sarah Lancashire has vowed never to strip off or go topless for the cameras. Sarah, 36, best known as barmaid Raquel in the ITV soap, said: "I have no desire to share my body parts with the nation. "I don't think the part ever calls for nudity. It's more often employed for voyeuristic purposes when actors and actresses are asked to take their clothes off."

But she does appear in her first sex scenes in the new BBC1 drama Clocking Off. Sarah who appears in steamy romps with Jude star Christopher Eccleston, said: "They were amazingly technical. It was 'Put your knee a bit higher,' and 'Groan a bit more here'. "We just felt really silly. They definitely weren't sensual. I can't be sexy and pant and groan like Juliette Binoche." In fact she enjoyed a fight scene more than the sex scenes.

Sarah, who had to punch Christopher Eccleston in the six-parter by Cracker creator Paul Abbott, laughed: "I definitely enjoyed flooring him more than the sex scenes. It was a great laugh."

Knot for real
13 January 2000 by John Mahoney

CORONATION Street favourites Anne Kirkbride and Bill Roache were relieved last night to learn that they are not married . . . in real life! The riddle of whether they are or aren't hitched has dogged them for 19 years because a genuine Methodist minister conducted the TV wedding of Deirdre Langton and Ken Barlow. But the Rev Frank Topping has finally divorced the pair from fellow cast members' regular ribbing that they might have got well and truly spliced when he "married" them as a paid extra on July 27, 1981.

The 62-year-old cleric, who we tracked down to his ministry in High Barnet, North London, caused a fright at first when he told us he also had spent years wondering if the ceremony was valid. Then he revealed the union must be null and void because certain essential lines were left out - a judgment that will also please 62-year-old Bill's wife Sara, 50, and 45-year-old Anne's husband Dave Beckett, 41, whom she wed 11 years after getting hitched to Ken in Weatherfield!

"I must admit it has preyed on my mind," said Frank. "I was aware that the subject was rekindled at Granada Studios from time to time. And there was an added twist because in England it is only the Anglican and Methodist churches which don't require a wedding to be in front of a registrar." But Frank explained that, after checking with his superiors, he was satisfied Anne and Bill weren't legally married because of the omitted key words.

Last night a friend of Anne, who fell in love with husband Dave when he played handyman Dave Barton in Corrie, said: "She's just had a bit of a giggle whenever this subject has been raised." And a pal of Bill joked: "He's relieved to know he's not been leading a double life. He's grateful to Mr Topping for sorting it out."years?"

Corrie's lost the plot
12 January 2000 by Tony Leonard

FORMER Coronation Street favourite Roy Barraclough launched a blistering attack on the hit soap yesterday. The 64 year-old star, who played Rovers Return boss Alec Gilroy, claimed the series had gone youth-crazy at the expense of older characters. He added that the saga of Lancashire life was now "sketch-show television", having lost storyline quality and its famous community spirit.

Preston-born Roy said: "You can't argue with ratings. The show is still No 1. "But I don't like the way it's lost its community feel. At one time, whatever happened to one character had a knock-on effect. "Everyone got involved. Now it's just isolated incidents strung together. It's sketch-show television."

Roy, who launched his tirade in the TV Times, claimed Street producers had lost the plot with their obsession for introducing lots of new, young characters in a bid to capture a similar generation of viewers. The actor, soon to be seen opposite Diana Rigg in BBC1's Mrs Bradley Mysteries, insisted: "They're copying Aussie soaps that don't get a fraction of Corrie's ratings. "But if you're 18 to 28 and stay in to watch Corrie, there's something wrong with you. "What about the older people who have little choice but to watch TV -and have been loyal to the programme for years?"

How Coronation Street threatened Good Friday deal
10 January 2000 by David Hencke and Rob Evans

A row over the rights to screen Britain's top soap, Coronation Street, was parachuted into the Irish peace talks, according to minutes of an Anglo-Irish ministerial meeting released to the Guardian. The culture secretary, Chris Smith, had to fight to stop the dispute between Ulster TV and Ireland's main state station from souring the Good Friday agreement.

The bizarre sideshow to the agreement is revealed in minutes of a meeting in Dublin last June between Mr Smith and his Irish counterpart, Sheila de Valera, granddaughter of Ireland's former president Eamon de Valera. They have been released to the Guardian under the Irish freedom of information act. The British documents are banned from public view until 2030.

The row broke out when Radio Telefis Eirrean (RTE) decided to build a transmitter which would beam the soap into 70% of homes in Northern Ireland compared with its usual 30% - threatening the dominance of the Belfast-based Ulster TV. Furious UTV executives protested to Dublin because RTE would be poaching their own Coronation Street viewers by transmitting the soap at the same time.

Briefing notes for the meeting suggest that the angry UTV executives could be mollified by a provision in Ireland's broadcasting bill giving Ulster broadcasters new digital wavebands in the republic. Her civil servants then briefed her that the only way to solve the transmission row might be to get a joint "exchange of letters" with Mr Smith to bring back "a climate of confidence in the British broadcasters and officials".

Minutes of the meeting revealed that Mr Smith was happy to sort out the soap war. They say: "The secretary of state agreed we were 'nearly there' and that this matter was quite relevant to the Good Friday agreement. He was happy to ensure that all necessary steps are taken - RTE services will soon be available to some 70%... of the North." Friends of Mr Smith confirm that the deal was part of a wider agreement that everyone - north and south - should have the greatest possible choice of programmes.

Kev's soap happy to be married
10 January 2000

CORONATION Street favourites Alison Wakefield and Kevin Webster celebrate their screen marriage with a loving kiss yesterday. The couple - played by Naomi Radcliffe and Michael Le Vell - became the soap's 50th screen wedding.

A show insider said yesterday: "We love weddings in the programme and this will be another one to remember. "The marriage will come as a shock to most people who wouldn't have thought Kevin and Alison would tie the knot so quickly. "But they think needs must as she is pregnant in the storyline and they want to do the right thing." Naomi added: "I'm sure it will be a real treat to watch."

Guests included Jim McDonald (Charlie Lawson) and Linda Sykes (Jacqueline Pirie). The register office ceremony marks the end of mechanic Kevin's dogged pursuit of Alison. She broke off their engagement and left Weatherfield but he followed her to Morecambe and pleaded with her to think again.

Kevin's two daughters from his first Street wife Sally were bridesmaids for the episode, to be shown on January 23. But, as viewers will see, for Sally Webster it is a day to give full vent to her emotions.

The Duckworths saved my life
10 January 2000 by John Mahoney and Simon Wheeler

FORMER dosser Jon Gelder has finally kicked his booze addiction - thanks to TV's favourite soap couple. He says Coronation Street's Jack and Vera Duckworth saved his life.

Jon spent nearly 11 years slumped in shop doorways, stealing to pay for his mammoth vodka habit and even resorting to downing nail varnish remover and car antifreeze - laced with blackcurrant. But his life finally took an upward turn when he was huddled in the doorway of a TV shop.

Jon, 30, was swigging his third litre-bottle of vodka of the day when hit soap Coronation Street flashed up on the screens. Former public schoolboy Jon was mesmerised by battling Jack and Vera's constant bickering - and suddenly made him realise there was more to life than boozing. The scenes with Jack and Vera - played by Bill Tarmey and Liz Dawn - reminded him of the hours spent in front of the box as a child and convinced him to beat the bottle. Their hilarious banter - with work-shy Jack getting an earbashing from his loudmouth wife - convinced him to dry out and re-build his life.

He was admitted to the Chaucer Clinic, in Ealing, West London, where he received treatment and counselling. Jon, from Camden, north London, hasn't touched a drop for two years and now works as an executive car salesman. He has just moved into a new flat with an ex-girlfriend - who had kicked him out for drinking. He said: "Jack and Vera were the defining moment. I suppose I was always looking for some kind of sign to get my life back together. "Watching them after so many pathetic years got me thinking there had to be more to life than booze. "They made me recall my happily-spent childhood. They convinced me I owed it to myself and others to stop boozing. "Jack and Vera's banter and their sense of fun gave me the will to live again. It's as simple as that. "I owe them everything. When I first saw them again in that doorway I wasn't worried if I lived or died."

Jon's change in fortunes is a long way from his former booze-fuelled existence. He said: "I was a wreck who never knew or cared what day it was. In the past I had repeatedly betrayed my family, lied to them and been a horrible son. I was convinced my parents hated me. "I was dossing in doorways and on park benches, and living on scraps of cold pizza thrown out of restaurants at night. "Everything I had went on booze. Sometimes I would get through three bottles of vodka a day. "I tried and failed ten times in drying-out clinics, and in the end felt absolutely worthless. "Looking back I'm horrified at the way I behaved. "But I'm so lucky. Jack and Vera gave me the will to live."

Clinic founder Nick Charles said: "Jon's shown amazing will-power. "Jack and Vera inspired him to change and we helped him see it through."

A spokesman for the hit ITV soap said: "It's a very touching and moving account of how someone's life has been completely transformed. We're pleased Jack and Vera have had such a dramatic effect on Jon's life. "Liz and Bill will be comforted to know their characters helped him finally get his life sorted."

Sarah Lancashire: Conquering my secret fears
8 January 2000

Sarah Lancashire walked out on two hit shows at the peak of her fame without harming her popularity, but only now is she starting to believe in herself For an actress plagued by self-doubt and insecurity, Sarah Lancashire has taken two brave decisions in her career so far. First to quit Coronation Street at the height of her success, and then to do the same with Where The Heart Is.

Leaving the Street and a reputed £100,000 pay packet behind was, she says, like, "Leaping off a cliff at midnight - I had no idea what was at the bottom", but increasingly it has proven to be the right decision. And she has shown similar courage in her personal life, surviving a marriage break up and coping with being a working mum.

Out of it all she has emerged as more confident, and she has begun to accept that rather than just hitching a ride on the soap bandwagon, she is a talented actress. Nowhere is this new self-belief more obvious that in her decision to return to the Street as scatty Raquel. She appeared with estranged husband Curly Watts (played by Kevin Kennedy) in a special episode shown on January 2.

"Going back as Raquel was a big surprise for me too," admits Sarah, 35. "I didn't think I would. But I'd always said, 'Never say never'. And this was such a good storyline, I couldn't turn it down. I always knew Raquel couldn't grow old. She'd be embarrassing at 40. So I felt I should play her one more time at the age I am now. I felt I could take all the recognition this time. My shoulders are broader than they were. And I loved being back. I'm passionate about the Street."

If Sarah had not been so much in demand since leaving the soap in 1996, she may not have been so keen to return. But she has proved her skill in a variety of roles, particularly as Ruth in Where The Heart Is. Last year she was kept busy. She worked on a ten-part drama Clocking Off, to be shown at the end of January, in Seeing Red she plays children's home founder Coral Atkins. Other projects included a sitcom, The Chambers, and a two-part psychological thriller. "People are going to be so sick of me," she laughs, ordering more tea in the lounge of a Manchester hotel.

Sarah has braved foul weather to make the half-hour drive from her home in Bowden, Cheshire, to be here. But she says it gives her an excuse to pop into the nearby Granada Studios to see her friends on the Street, before collecting sons Matthew, ten, and Thomas, 12, from school. She is wearing a thick green sweater and wrap-over wool skirt, and appears carefree and contented with life. "Yes, it's taken a long time but I feel more comfortable with myself and within this business," she says. "I feel so much more confident at 35 than at 25. I feel I'm earning the right to my little patch. As I approach 40, I feel I may deserve an even bigger patch."

The project which has done much to help her shake off any lingering self-doubt is Clocking Off, set in a textile factory. It is her first part since quitting Where The Heart Is after three series because, "My character was too chocolate-boxy, no longer a challenge". She plays Yvonne Kolakowski, a widow struggling to raise three children single-handedly who has also been repeatedly messed around by men. "She's been quite damaged by her relationships," says Sarah. "And when the last boyfriend, her landlord, wants to kick her out, she feels everything has been taken from her. So she burns the house down." In the crisis which follows, Yvonne seeks help from neighbour Jim Calvert (played by Christopher Eccleston).

"This unromantic relationship develops, very chilly, with quite a lot of mutual dislike. They kind of seep into each other's consciousness. She asks him to sleep with her because it's her birthday. He obliges and she ends up feeling even cheaper and more desperate." She laughs out loud and adds, "It's a terrible confession but I understand Yvonne completely. She's taken so much from men that she wants to lead an uncomplicated life, do her work, care for her kids. I know this woman so well, believe me."

Sarah drew on her own experience of being a single parent for her part, and it's not the first time that art has mirrored life. In the month that Raquel left Curly, Sarah split from her musician husband Gary Hargreaves. She remains tight-lipped about why her marriage failed. But her father Geoffrey, 65, has said, "Sarah can be difficult. I'd hate to be married to her, though she's lovely and a great mother."

Although it was tough combining motherhood with her career, Sarah has come out on top. She is reluctant to work away from home unless filming schedules coincide with the boys' school holidays and they can go with her. "I'm aware that if I am not there, they are not with a parent. And parenting is the most important thing," she says. "We share so much, the boys and me. We're all practical. Matthew loves to cook, we all love DIY and gardening. So we drool over programmes such as Changing Rooms, Home Front, Gardeners' World and all the cookery shows. When they were all shown on a Friday night it was fantastic."

After completing Clocking Off, she and her sons took their first holiday for three years in Lanzarote. "I was still recognised but at least people called me Sarah, not Raquel. I've had to pedal so fast since Coronation Street to make progress, so I felt I'd achieved something," she says. "You're called a star and I found that silly because the status is thrust upon you. For me, it's important to have earned something. I crave respect from within the industry. I fight tooth and nail for soap actors, though. There are some extraordinary performances but they are put in a different class. Everyone is labelled and it's wrong."

Having finally shaken off her own soap label, Sarah is now ready for a new, long-term relationship. "I've been on my own for a long time and I hope it's not for much longer," she says. "I'd like a man in my life, for the companionship more than anything. Who knows what this millennium will bring?"

Tyrone drives them all crazy
8 January 2000

Provisional licence in hand, wannabe boyracer Tyrone gets behind the wheel for his first driving lesson which might also be his last. The lovable lodger, who wouldn't say boo to a goose, burns up the cobblestones, drives his instructor round the bend and is finally ordered out of the car.

Meanwhile, there are ructions at the Battersby residence when Les discovers the truth about Leanne's involvement in the raid on the Rovers. He is even more furious after he confronts shady dealer Jez, only to hear that Leanne paid off her drug debt in kind. In a rare display of morality, Les disowns his wayward daughter, though Leanne finds an unexpected shoulder to cry on from boss Natalie.

Cupid's arrows have a hit and miss week in the Street. Kevin proposes to Alison and is accepted. But Jim and Gwen have a stormy time when she confides that she was a battered wife and he admits to hitting his ex Liz in a jealous rage. Despite Jim's assurances that it was a one-off, Gwen is not sure she can trust him - though he manages to persuade her otherwise in what is his first night of passion since his accident.

Linda is up to her old tricks, enjoying wielding her power and using her feminine wiles to play off veteran lothario Mike and son Mark. And an old flame turns up at the shop, much to Dev's dismay, who promptly gives Amy her marching orders. Bet she'll be back.

I'm thrilled says Street's new Rosie
7 January 2000

A nine-year-old girl is celebrating after beating off dozens of young hopefuls to win the part of Coronation Street's Rosie Webster. Helen Flanagan, of Bolton, Greater Manchester, will step into the shoes vacated by Emma Collinge, on January 23. Helen, who lives with her parents and older brother and sister, said she was delighted to have been chosen for the part and added: "I'm thrilled to be working with such kind people."

Emma announced her decision to quit the show last month after playing Sally and Kevin's eldest daughter since she was 10 days old, telling Coronation Street chiefs that she wanted to donate more time to her gymnastics. She made her farewell appearance as Rosie on New Year's Eve [Actually it was sometime in the week before Christmas - Graham]. Now Helen will take over the part of the little girl who has been at the centre of tough storylines which saw her parents break up and Rosie become a bully.

Helen, who has attended the Carol Godby Theatre Workshop in Bury since she was five, has also appeared in a number of commercials. A Coronation Street spokeswoman said: "We are pleased to welcome Helen to the cast - she's really excited about the part I think her family have been champing at the bit to tell people. "She's a very pleasant girl and we think she will fit in very well with the rest of the cast."

Bill worn out
6 January 2000

WORN-OUT Coronation Street favourite Bill Roache is to check himself into an anti-stress retreat on a sunshine isle. Bill, 67, who has played Ken Barlow in telly's top soap since the first episode in 1960, will spend a week 'chilling out' with expert counsellors in Malta.

The actor has confided to friends that he finds Corrie's four-times-a-week filming schedule 'taxing' and admits the gruelling workload is proving stressful. Last night the £170,000-a-year star's wife Sara revealed that Bill is happy for TV cameras to film his stay at the retreat for a programme called Paradise Found, and will fly off to the Mediterranean island later this month.

'The whole idea of the programme is to send stressed-out actors to a retreat,' said 50-year old Sara. 'They will spend their time relaxing and dealing with any problems. At the end of the week they are asked how they are feeling and how useful the week has been.'

Sara also revealed that her husband has been having two-hour meditation sessions around their luxury home in Wilmslow, Cheshire, to help cope with the anxiety and strains brought on by working in The Street. 'It really does calm him down. He just wanders off to another part of the house for a couple of hours and gets down to it,' she said. 'He goes into it quite deeply. He doesn't go to meditation classes or anything like that - he has got to know about it through books and it helps him a lot. 'When he's anxious he does his meditation.'

Bill's character Ken Barlow is the only remaining Weatherfield local from the original cast of just 20.

Raquel-ing Yarn
5 January 2000 by Sinead McIntyre

THE return of estranged wife Raquel Watts to Coronation Street pulled in one of the biggest telly audiences of 1999.

The 45 minute special on January 2, in which Raquel, (Sarah Lancashire) came back to ask Curly (Kevin Kennedy) for a divorce and tell him he had a baby daughter, pulled in 17.5 million viewers, with 18.6 million watching at one point. The programme, which for the first time in the show's history only featured two characters, got 61 per cent of the viewing audience. It was pitched against BBC1's A Tribute to Bill Owen, the actor who played Last of the Summer Wine's Compo.

A spokeswoman for the BBC said the programme was made with quality in mind rather than viewing figures. 'It was not shown for the sake of competing with ITV,' she said.

Coronation Street's hour-long special on New Year's Day peaked at 16 million viewers, with an episode average of 14.9 million and an audience share of 53 per cent. On Christmas Day, 14.7 million viewers tuned into the Street while 11.2 million watched EastEnders.

Timing is everything
3 January 2000 by Nancy Banks-Smith

Elsie Tanner, they said, was the woman every salesman hoped would answer the door. Whereas the woman who did open the door was invariably Ena Sharples.

Raquel (Sarah Lancashire) of the Rovers Return was the barmaid every man dreamed would serve him, leaning like the blessed damozel from the golden bar of heaven, backed by shining spirits in bottles. A barmaid in excelsis. Beautiful as a daffodil though not as bright. Three years ago she left Curly, her husband, and Coronation Street and went to Kuala Lumpur, the sort of place scriptwriters send you if they are secretly in love with you. Otherwise you go to Lowestoft.

On New Year's Day Curly answered the door and it was Raquel.

Then again it wasn't. Offered a glass of good wine by Curly (who had been keeping it for a special occasion that never occurred) she said 'Oooh! Syrah and Grenache!' And seeing his stunned look added, 'The grapes it's made from. I'm getting leathery undertones.' 'If you don't like it...' began Curly helplessly.

Raquel was now living in a chateau, 'It's not an enormous chateau. It's not huge. It is a proper chateau. It's detached and everything.' The skin between her eyebrows puckered with unaccustomed thought. ' What's so funny? It is detached and everything.' She wanted a divorce to marry Armand, a wine grower, being, as she mentioned in passing, pregnant. 'Only just, mind you.'

Dawn was breaking - you wondered if this was a dream - and she was anxious to get back to Curly's daughter, Alice, and Armand's daughters, Madeleine and Elene. ' That's like what we call Helen except they don't pronounce the aitches in France.' 'No,' said Curly soberly, 'we don't in Weatherfield. We're very French in that respect.'

Raquel is luminous but not bright. Curly once named a star after her and she vanished with the first light as stars do. This was, unusually for Coronation Street, a duet and profoundly melancholic.

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